I have often been asked which was the most difficullt case I had to decide in the Supreme Court, and I usually refer to Hinsa Virodhak Sangh vs. Mirzapur Moti Koresh Jamaat ( see online ).
However, Aruna Shanbaug's case comes a close second ( see online and on Youtube ). I had to work very hard preparing that judgment, though I got excellent assistance from my then interns, Nithyaesh Natraj, and Vaibhav Rangarajan Venkatesh, who are up and coming lawyers in the Madras High Court today. They worked day and night doing the research in that case to find the legislation and Court decisions on euthanasia all over the world
In that judgment, I and my sister Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra, for the first time in India legalized passive euthanasia.
I was therefore sorry to learn of the passing away of Aruna in K.E.M. hospital in Mumbai recently.
Read the full judgment: http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/outtoday/wr1152009.pdf
