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extinction of life and therefore, incompatible and inconsistent with the concept of right to life'.
23. To give meaning and content to the word 'life' in Article 21, it has been construed as life with human dignity. Any aspect of life which makes it dignified may be read into it but not that which extinguishes it and is, therefore, inconsistent with the continued existence of life resulting in effacing the right itself. The right to die', if any, is inherently inconsistent with the right to life' as is death with life'.
24. ...... The right to life' including the right to live with human dignity would mean the existence of such a right up to the end of natural life. This also includes the right to a dignified life up to the point of death including a dignified procedure of death. In other words, this may include the right of a dying man to also die with dignity when his life is ebbing out. But the "right to die' with dignity at the end of life is not to be confused or equated with the right to die' an unnatural death curtailing the natural span of life.
25. A question may arise, in the context of a dying man, who is, terminally ill or in a persistent vegetative state that he may be permitted to terminate it by a premature extinction of his life in those circumstances. This category of cases may fall within the ambit of the 'right to die' with dignity as a part of right to live with dignity, when death due to termination of natural life is certain and imminent and the process of natural death has commenced. These are not cases of extinguishing life but only of accelerating conclusion of the process of natural death which has already commenced.... It is sufficient to reiterate that the argument to support the view of permitting termination of life in such cases to reduce the period of suffering during the process of certain natural death is not available to interpret Article 21 to include therein the right to
| SR No. | 250435 |
| Book Title | Decoding The Judgement on Sallekhana Santhara of The Rajasthan High Court |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | C Devkumar Jain |
| Publisher | C Devkumar Jain |
| Publication Year | 2015 |
| Total Pages | 25 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Article |
| File Size | 671 KB |