The Centre has informed the Delhi High Court that a competent adult should be permitted to designate their partner—including a partner in a non-heterosexual or queer relationship—to make healthcare decisions on their behalf if they subsequently lose the capacity to do so.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission have indicated that such recognition can be accommodated within the existing legal and ethical framework, provided that applicable statutory requirements, safeguards and verification mechanisms are followed.
The position was placed before the High Court in an affidavit filed by the National Medical Commission in a petition instituted by Arshiya Takkar. The petition seeks a formal framework under which a non-heterosexual partner can be recognised as a patient’s medical representative and authorised to provide consent in situations where medical intervention becomes necessary.
The petitioner has alternatively sought recognition of a medical power of attorney executed in favour of a non-heterosexual partner as sufficient authority for that partner to act as the patient’s duly appointed medical representative during treatment or a medical emergency.
The Centre has maintained that its position is anchored
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