A division bench comprising Chief Justice of the Delhi high court Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna has asked the ministry of law and justice to give its opinion on decriminalising the penal provisions for those who make suicide bid but survive.
The division bench was hearing a PIL, filed by an NGO, Mental Health Foundation, seeking decriminalisation of Section 309 (punishment for attempt to commit suicide) of the IPC on the ground that it was “inhuman” and against the fundamental right to life.
The PIL said, “The penal provision is violative of Article 21 of the Constitution as being arbitrary and oppressive to the well-being of such patients who let apart from being empathised given their fragile nature of mind and emotions are subjected to the trauma and punishment of the criminal justice system towards the commission of this act of attempting to commit suicide.”
As per the penal provision prescribed under the IPC, a person, if convicted for attempting to commit suicide, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or both. After hearing the PIL, the court said, “We cannot issue a writ of mandamus to the government. Certainly, we can ask the government about its views on the Law Commission’s recommendation (favouring repealment of the penal provision).”
The petition said, “Individuals who attempted to commit suicide should not be punished and be seen from a sympathetic point of view in the society. It is, therefore, conclusively determined that the provisions of Section 309 being harsh and unjustified be repealed.”