Euthanasia is the practice of ending a person's life for the sole purpose of relieving the person's body from excruciating pain and suffering due to an incurable disease. The term euthanasia is often referred as mercy killing or the 'good death' as derived from the Greek. Euthanasia can be classified into four categories. In active euthanasia, a person's life is terminated by a doctor through a lethal dose of medication. Passive euthanasia implies non provision of life-sustaining treatment to a patient based on logical reasoning or in other words doing nothing to save a person's life by abstaining to give life saving measures like putting a person on artificial respirator. Simple way of distinguishing active and passive form of euthanasia is a mere difference between act and omission. The other forms include voluntary euthanasia in which a person's consent is obtained for either active or passive euthanasia. Whereas non-voluntary euthanasia which refers to ending a person's life who is not mentally capable of taking any decision. (James Rachels, 1975, pp. 78-80).

             Euthanasia had been initially accepted in the history. Greece and Romans permitted it in certain circumstances. However, with the arrival of religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, practices of euthanasia were morally and ethically rejected. Life was regarded as the gift of God and under no situation permitted its annihilation. Laws of modern societies also followed the general principles of religions. It was only in last century that active debates on euthanasia commenced to authenticate its legality and ethical righteousness. .

             Proponents of the issue started advocating the option of life and death as sole right of a human being. Alexander Capron, a renowned American lawyer propagates the concept by stating that I never want to wonder whether the physician coming into my hospital room is wearing the white coat of the healer or the black hood of the executioner.