The Central Government today announced its intention to decriminalize attempt to commit suicide, by deleting Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code..Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said that the government has decided to drop Section 309 from the IPC after 18 states and 4 Union territories backed the recommendation of the Law Commission of India in this regard..Section 309 reads as follows:.“Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both.”.The Law Commission of India, chaired by A R Lakshmanan, had recommended in its 210th Report, released in October, 2008, that attempt to commit suicide should be decriminalized. The Report had made reference to P Rathinam v. Union of India, in which the Supreme Court had held that Section 309 is violative of Article 21 because.“…it is a cruel and irrational provision, and it may result in punishing a person again (doubly) who has suffered agony and would be undergoing ignominy because of his failure to commit suicide.”.This decision was, however, overruled in Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab, in which the Supreme Court held that the right to life under Article 21 does not include the right to die..The Mental Health Bill of 2013 has attempted to presume persons who attempted suicide to be suffering from mental illness, thereby extinguishing criminal liability.
The Central Government today announced its intention to decriminalize attempt to commit suicide, by deleting Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code..Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said that the government has decided to drop Section 309 from the IPC after 18 states and 4 Union territories backed the recommendation of the Law Commission of India in this regard..Section 309 reads as follows:.“Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both.”.The Law Commission of India, chaired by A R Lakshmanan, had recommended in its 210th Report, released in October, 2008, that attempt to commit suicide should be decriminalized. The Report had made reference to P Rathinam v. Union of India, in which the Supreme Court had held that Section 309 is violative of Article 21 because.“…it is a cruel and irrational provision, and it may result in punishing a person again (doubly) who has suffered agony and would be undergoing ignominy because of his failure to commit suicide.”.This decision was, however, overruled in Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab, in which the Supreme Court held that the right to life under Article 21 does not include the right to die..The Mental Health Bill of 2013 has attempted to presume persons who attempted suicide to be suffering from mental illness, thereby extinguishing criminal liability.
