Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Delhi High Court Appoints Wife as Legal Guardian for Comatose Husband

Justice Sachin Datta invoked parens patriae jurisdiction, citing a legislative gap on guardianship for patients in persistent vegetative states.

Overview

  • In a December order, the court empowered Professor Alka Acharya to make medical and caretaking decisions and to manage her husband's movable and immovable assets strictly for his care.
  • A medical board reported 100% disability after a February 2025 intracranial haemorrhage and life‑saving surgery, with the patient remaining unconscious on tracheostomy and Ryle tube under home care.
  • The couple's two children filed no‑objection affidavits, and a sub‑divisional magistrate's report corroborated the petition with no adverse findings.
  • The ruling references prior Delhi High Court precedent from 2023 and notes a vacuum under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.
  • The court concluded that guardianship was necessary for the husband's welfare and confined the authority to decisions and expenditures tied to his medical and daily needs.