One Death, One Law: Why India Needs a Uniform Declaration of Death Framework

One Death, One Law: Why India Needs a Uniform Declaration of Death Framework Death is a biological certainty, but its legal determination is a construct shaped by medicine, ethics, and law.Advances in critical care and life-support technologies have fundamentally altered how death is determined and diagnosed, particularly with the recognition, for the past 60 years, of brain-stem death as an irreversible form of biological death.In India, however, the legal framework governing the determination and declaration of death remains fragmented.Three separate legislations-the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023; the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969 and the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994-operate with differing definitions and standards. [1]2][3] This lack of uniformity has created persistent ambiguity for clinicians, families, hospital administrators, and the State.India urgently requires a Uniform Declaration of Death Act (UDDA), similar to the UDDA, 1981, in the USA, to harmonise medical science with legal certainty and constitutional values. 4