Delhi HC appoints wife as legal guardian of comatose man

New Delhi, Jan 1 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has appointed the wife of a man, who is in a vegetative or comatose state because of a medical ailment since February last year, as his legal guardian.

The court passed the order invoking its "parens patriae" jurisdiction to declare the wife as having the corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of her living husband, to preserve and conserve them.

According to the Supreme Court, the parens patriae doctrine could be invoked by constitutional courts to meet the ends of justice. It is to be applied in exceptional cases where the subject of the petition is not mentally or physically capable or is very young, and where there is no other parent or legal guardian.

Justice Sachin Datta was hearing the petition of the woman who said her husband was in a persistent vegetative state after suffering from an intracranial haemorrhage (bleeding inside the skull).

The petition sought guardianship of her husband about all matters relating to his estate, including (but not limited to) immovable and movable properties, financial affairs and social security funds to enable her to manage his medical requirements and expenses.

In an order dated December 24, the court, noting the evidence before it, said it was "unequivocally established" that the husband had been in a vegetative and comatose state, incapable of undertaking any independent decisions or activities, and so, for his welfare, "the appointment of a legal guardian was warranted." It noted that two children of the couple had submitted affidavits stating they had no objection to their mother being appointed as a guardian.

The court also noted the medical report, according to which the husband was 100 per cent disabled.

It said, "Further, the report submitted by the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) clearly establishes the veracity of assertions made by the petitioner in the present petition and opines that nothing adverse or contrary to the record has been found." Justice Datta said that the Delhi High Court, in a catena of judgments, had invoked its parens patriae jurisdiction for appointing a legal heir or spouse as the legal guardian.

He cited a 2023 verdict of the high court, where it had invoked the jurisdiction after noting the legal vacuum for the appointment of a legal guardian for an individual in a vegetative or comatose state.

The court then appointed the woman as her husband's legal guardian and provided her with the right to make various decisions, such as for the medical treatment, caretaking, daily expenditures, finances, management and dealing with her husband's assets.

It said the wife would be at liberty to deal with any movable and immovable assets of her husband towards his medical and daily expenditures. PTI MNR ZMN