New Delhi, Dec. 19 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday moved a step closer to taking a "final call" on whether life support and medical treatment may be withdrawn from a 31-year-old man who has remained in a vegetative state for more than a decade, after a secondary medical board at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) concluded that there was little to no possibility of his condition improving. A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan fixed January 13 to personally interact with the parents and siblings of Harish Rana, signalling that the court is now poised to issue final directions in a case that could become India's first judicially sanctioned instance of passive euthanasia. After perusing the AIIMS report, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati placed the findings before the court, following which the bench observed that the matter had reached a decisive stage. "We have reached a stage where we will have to take the final call. It is a very sad report. It will be a big challenge for us as well, but we cannot keep this man in this condition for all times to come," the bench remarked. The court agreed with the submission that consultation with the family was essential before any final order is passed and made it clear that it wished to meet the parents in person rather than through a virtual interaction. Advocate Rashmi Nandakumar, appearing for the family, told the bench that Harish's immediate family consists of his parents and two siblings and that the court's eventual decision would have to be guided by the "best interests of the person". In its order, the court recorded that the secondary medical board had been constituted pursuant to its December 11 directions and that AIIMS had submitted its report dated December 16. The report details the patient's medical history, concluding that improvement in his condition was highly improbable. Copies of the report were directed to be supplied to both sides, with the bench requesting counsel to study it closely and assist the court. The bench also directed both counsels to interact with Harish's parents and other family members and place a report of those discussions before the court. The parents have been asked to remain present in the committee room of the Supreme Court on January 13, when the bench will hear them and proceed to pass final orders. Harish has been in a vegetative state since suffering catastrophic head injuries in an accident in 2013....