Suicide bid may not be penal offence

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna was apprised of the Centre's willingness to consider repealing section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which makes suicide bid a penal offence, by its Standing Counsel Jatan Singh. Singh stated this during hearing of a public interest lawsuit by Mental Health Foundation, an NGO, seeking decriminalisation of suicide bid.

“The IPC being a major criminal law, piecemeal amendment to the act may not be practical proposition. Therefore, the recommendation of the Law Commission in its 210 report for deletion of Section 309 of IPC will be given due consideration while considering the next batch of comprehensive amendment to IPC,” Singh told the court.