122 TO PUNISH OR NOT TO PUNISH: ATTEMPT TO COMMIT SUICIDE Joydip Ghosal 1 I. Introduction After more than three decades of measured debate in courts and public outrage elsewhere and after repeated recommendations from the Law Commission, the government of India has moved to scrap Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code 2 , which criminalised the attempt to commit suicide. People who are driven to attempt the extreme step, either by illness or extreme adversity, deserve the support of society and the government. Instead, this antediluvian law had heaped insult on injury by turning them into felons. The 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. 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 government’s resolve to scrap Section 309 IPC will mean that no longer will attempted suicide be punishable with imprisonment or fine. As of now, Section 309 IPC entails that a person who makes such an attempt--- and fails--- faces imprisonment for up to a year or a fine or both. The offence of suicide is cognisable. A policeman is empowered to go to the hospital where the individual who attempted suicide is recovering, arrest him and put him through the torture of criminal proceedings at a time when he is already emotionally fragile. In 1968, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined suicidal act as “the injury with varying degree of lethal intent” and that suicide may be defined as “a suicidal act with fatal outcome”. Suicidal acts with non fatal outcome are labelled by WHO as “attempted suicide.” According to one of their report, India has the highest suicide rate in the world after China and world leader in suicides among 15 to 29 years old. The highest suicide rate is not amongst the disadvantaged groups, which means that young, educated adults are facing problems. In many countries, attempt to commit suicide is regarded more as a manifestation of a diseased condition of mind deserving 1 Ph. D. Scholar, WB NUJS, Kolkata; Guest Lecturer, SN Law College, Kolkata. 2 Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code reads thus: “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.”