SC lets kin join terminally-ill Ukrainian prisoner

SC lets kin join terminally-ill Ukrainian prisoner

Context:

The Supreme Court allowed a prayer by a terminally-ill Ukranian prisoner in Chennai that his fundamental right to life includes the right to die with dignity in the company of family members.

Introduction:

• A Bench led by Chief Justice of India  Dipak Misra has allowed the wife and family members of an Ukrainian national, diagnosed with cancer, to be with him in Chennai’s Apollo Hospital.
• The court’s decision was an outcome of the petition filed by Dudnyk Valentyn, serving his sentence for offences under the Arms Act.
• Valentyn’s vessel was found stationed 10.8 nautical miles from the Thoothukudi port on October 11, 2013.
• The judgment on his appeal has been pending in the Madras High Court for over a year.
• The CJI Bench asked the Madras HC to deliver the judgment on the appeal as expeditiously as possible.

Arguments sighted in petition:

• The right to live with human dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution by included “some of the finer graces of human civilization, which makes life worth living”.
• The concept of life also found that the right to live with human dignity included the right to co-mingle with fellow human beings.
• The petition argued that the right to life for the petitioner, who is a foreign national, would also include the right to be repatriated to his country of origin to spend his last few days.

Article 21 of the Constitution:

• The Constitution of India does not specifically guarantee a “right to privacy”
• However, Article 21 of the Constitution of India states that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”.
• Article 21 interprets that the term ‘life’ includes all those aspects of life which go to make a man’s life meaningful, complete and worth living.