Punjab and Haryana High Court lays down rules to appoint guardians in comatose cases

In the absence of any statutory law to govern the appointment of guardians for individuals lying in a vegetative or comatose state, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued detailed guidelines, including mandatory medical board examination, and financial disclosures by anyone seeking to be appointed as guardian.

The directions, binding on Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh will remain in force “till such time as a suitable legislation is enacted, as to how guardians are to be appointed qua persons in comatose state”.

The Bench of Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal and Justice Deepak Manchanda passed the orders while allowing a writ petition filed by the mother of Rohit Kumar, who has been in a vegetative state following a road accident and whose family sought legal authority to manage his affairs. Advocate Brijeshwar Singh Bhalla appeared for the petitioner.

The Bench ruled any person seeking guardianship would have to file a petition disclosing full details of that person’s tangible and intangible assets, including their locations and market values, as well as particulars of bank accounts, shares, and other investments. The court would order a medical examination of the comatose person by a board that must include a neurologist and direct the local SDM or tehsildar to verify the claims in the petition, investigate the relationship of the petitioner with the patient, and assess the petitioner’s financial capacity to act as guardian. Any conflicts of interest must be flagged in the enquiry report. Ordinarily, only a parent, sibling, spouse or child of the person in a comatose state would be appointed as guardian.