Narayan Lavate and his wife Iravati take a taxi outside their house. Janak Rathod
THE bylanes of Thakurdwar, a cramped alley in south Mumbai, was buzzing with activity after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on Euthanasia on Friday. The area is the home of the Lavates, the Mumbai couple who had written to the President in January to allow them to end their lives with medical assistance. While the Supreme Court has legalised “passive euthanasia”, the couple believe that the order doesn’t cover them as their request pertains to “active euthanasia”. They are now waiting for the President’s response to their plea and even ready to approach the court in case they don’t hear from him by March 31. “
“I want to go to my office and Iravati has to go for her senior citizens’ group meeting. We will get late,” said 88-year-old Narayan Lavate, a former state transport officer, soon after the verdict. Lavate was the one who wanted to end his life, along with his wife Iravati (78), a former school principal. The couple who do not have children are “as healthy as old age lets them be”, they claim. “Just the effort of climbing down the stairs and walking to the taxi has made me pant, see. I don’t want to continue like this,” says Iravati “
“We have already made our living will. With this (court) order, we will have to wait to be terminally ill. Do you want us to be terminally ill?” Narayan asks his audience, mostly neighbours who have heard the news and are curious about their next move, and then, he breaks into a smile. “We want to go while our organs are still working,” he says.
According to Narayan, the court ruling doesn’t address their concerns. “It is a completely different situation. We are not terminally ill or in a vegetative state. To deny us death because we are not in pain, is cruelty. Do they want to see us in pain before letting us die? There are laws against even animal cruelty, we are humans and (is there) no one to look into this cruelty?” he asked. Iravati says: “This order doesn’t serve us and we are still waiting for the President’s response.”
On Friday, the Supreme Court legalised “living will” and passive euthanasia under strict terms and conditions on a petition filed by an NGO, Common Cause. According to the judgment, a terminally ill or comatose patient can be allowed to terminate life, if a “living will” is made.
The Lavates are waiting till March 31, after which the couple say that they will move the Bombay High Court seeking legal remedy if they don’t receive a response. “According to law, any government official has to respond to a letter addressed to them in 90 days. The 90 days end on March 1,” Narayan said. “Why isn’t the President responding? It can be any response, but can’t he at least respond on our lives? How long are we to continue like this?” he asked.
While the couple were heading to their one-room and kitchen apartment on the first floor of Laxmibai Chawl, Iravati’s former student rushed to meet her. “He was my student in primary school. Look, even he is sporting grey hair now,” she said. The student, concerned about their decision after the court order, was told: “The decision has nothing to do with us. It’s a separate case. Our solution might come by March 31.”
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