18 States, 4 UTs Back Move To Repeal Sec 309
The government has decided
to decriminalize “attempt to suicide” by deleting Section 309 of the
Indian Penal Code from the statute book. Currently, a person attempting
suicide faces imprisonment for up to one year or fine, or both.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday , minister of state for home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said the government had given the nod for repealing Section 309 after 18 states and 4 Union territories backed the recommendation of the Law Commission in this regard. Government sources told TOI that a Cabinet note on the IPC (Amendment) Bill had already been circulated by the home ministry among the health and law ministries, among others.
The law panel, in its 210th report submitted in 2008, had noted that attempt to suicide may be regarded more as a manifestation of a diseased condition of mind, deserving treatment and care rather than punishment. It recommended that the government initiate the process for repeal of the “anachronistic“ section.
Among the opposers was Bihar, which raised the issue of suicide bombers who fail to blow themselves up. Failed suicide bombers, cyanide-popping terrorists and intransigent agitators -these were some of the issues raised by at least five states that opposed the Centre's proposal to decriminalize attempt to commit suicide.
Bihar, which expressed reservations alongside MP, Delhi, Punjab and Sikkim, wanted a distinction drawn between persons driven to suicide due to medical illnesses and suicide bombers who fail to blow themselves up or terrorists who consume cyanide pills. Home ministry officials clarified that a terrorist would still face charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, whether or not he succeeds in his mission.
MP , Delhi and Sikkim argued that decriminalizing attempt to suicide would hand icap law enforcement agencies in dealing with persons who resort to fast-untodeath or self-immolation to press the government or authorities to accept their demands. Such people, they ar gued, can no longer be booked or force-fed. MP and Delhi arf gued that deleting Section 309 ( would dilute Section 306 (abetment of suicide).
The government is examining these views, said home ministry sources, before taking the draft IPC (Amendment) Bill to the Cabinet. The Bill will then be brought to Parliament.
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Times View
This newspaper has consistently argued that attempted suicide should be decriminalized (in 2011 and 2012 alone, we wrote seven impassioned Times Views to this effect). The Supreme Court in 2011 urged the government to do the same; and the Law Commission, as early as 1971, had called for the repeal of Section 309 of the IPC. The government's decision was long overdue, but no less welcome for that.Having taken this step and thus indicated a willingness to accommodate both traditional Indian sensibilities as well as modern ones, it needs to go a step further and initiate a national debate on euthanasia. This paper has argued in favour of it albeit with stringent legal and medical checks and balances to guard against misuse.
