Attempt to suicide isn’t an offence; abetment is
The Union Government's decision to de-criminalise suicide attempts is a welcome step in the direction of a humanitarian approach towards people who are driven to taking their lives. For some convoluted reason, the law has held that people who attempt suicide are to be punished.
The action that follows effectively punishes the unfortunate victim twice over; he is tormented first by the circumstances that led him into taking the step, and tormented again by the law. The Union Government's resolve to scrap Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code will mean that no longer will attempted suicide be punishable with imprisonment or fine. This move should be followed by measures the Government must take with the cooperation of social activists engaged in the field to provide effective counselling to people who try to end their own lives.
While it is true that many agencies are already working in the area, the system needs to be upgraded, and the network of helplines manned by expert counsellors should be enlarged. If the Centre and the State Governments have to get a grip on the issue, which is of immense social importance, they must ramp up the process by which attempted suicides can be tracked and tackled.
As of now, there is a very loose system in place, and the statistics generated are often unreliable. (Suicides have been, of course, tracked, and there are statistics on them.) Section 309 had outlived its purpose long ago and should have been scrapped. The law Commission of India had six years ago suggested doing away with the provision of the IPC, which it termed as unreasonable because it inflicted further pain on the victim. Since then, several States and Union territories concurred with this view and sought a repeal of the Section.
One reason for the failure of the authorities so far to strike down Section 309 was that legal opinion itself had been divided. While the law Commission held that attempt to suicide was a “manifestation of a diseased condition of mind” deserving care and treatment, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had in 1996 upheld the validity of Section 309 on the ground that the Constitution, which gives the right to life, cannot also give the right to take one's life.
But attempted suicide is not about the ‘right to die' — after all, a person trying to end his life does not do so in voluntary violation of the ‘right to live'; he is simply so desperately driven that he sees no way out except death. De-criminalisation of attempted suicide does not vest upon a person the right to end his or her life. Had the contrary been the case, the debate on active euthanasia would stand settled.
Fears have been expressed that the abolition of Section 309 could weaken other relevant provisions such as Section 306, which makes abetment to suicide a penal offence. This fear is misplaced because the spirit of the law behind the two Sections is different. In any case, once Section 309 is repealed, lawmakers will surely make changes that are deemed necessary to continue holding abetment to suicide as a punishable offence. Nor will the abolition of Section 309 be a boon to suicide bombers, because suicide bombers are also covered by provisions that deal with murder, terrorism, disruption of peace and so on.