ATTEMPT OF SUICIDE AS AN OFFENCE

What is Suicide?

Suicide is the willed and spontaneous act of an individual who accepts the visceral nature of the
activity, and destines by it to attain the outcome of self-destruction. Suicide is the cautious
completion of one’s survival, while in the custody and indulgence of his psychic faculties. Self-
slaying by a. psychiatric person is not suicide.1

Alluringly, the word ‘suicide’ is not construed in the Indian Penal Code. But The Case Clift v.
Schwabe2 provides an apropos definition of this word, to ‘commit suicide’ is for a person willed
to do an action, for the aspiration of eradicating his own life, being cognizant of that feasible
aftereffect, and having, at the time, ‘ample mind to crave the carnage of life.” priority here is on
the words ‘voluntarily and ‘being cognizant of that aftereffect.’ This aims intention is the
essential ingredient. It can be detected that, while, there is no penalty for the achieved action but
the law makes assured that the individuals who are not adept to attain the action are penalized.
This entails a person who is greatly depressed or diseased, one who has adrift all aspiration to
survive, decides to end his life and his attempt is unsuccessful, the penal procedures would make
assure that he is penalized for the abortive solicit.

One angle on the raised interpretation would conjure affinity towards the residue; such a person
demands aid and admonish. He aids emotional help. The other angle is that penalty for suicide
would play a role as determent. This facet would also be trade with farther in the paper when the
number of cases of suicides in the new years is evaluated.

Other bickering is that a person arraigned for crime such as human trafficking, drug trafficking
or manslaughter and other offences, shots to closure his life by committing suicide, this plan
would make assure that he is tried beneath this section slightly if he departs the other charges.
But is this logic good ample to favors chronic with Section 309 in Indian Penal Code?

1
THELAW.COM LAW DICTIONARY & BLACK'S LAW DICTIONARY 2ND ED.

2
 (1846) 3 C. B. 437
Farther, advocating attempt to commit suicide as an offence cites other dilemma. In nations as
United States of America and Canada, habit of using the terms ‘died by suicide’ rather than using
‘committed suicide’ is bit by bit ameliorating. The purpose for that is, offences are committed by
criminals and suicide is not an offence (not even attempt to commit suicide is an offence in such
nations). Thence, ‘committed suicide’ and likewise ‘attempt to commit suicide’ are not apt words
in recent time.

SHOULD ATTEMPT TO COMMIT SUICIDE BE A CRIME?

This controversy has been the point in cases of P. Rathinam v. Union of India3 and Smt. Gian
Kaur v. State of Punjab4. In P. Rathinam, the Apex Court detected the right to die as a chunk of
Article 21. It was declared that Section 309 was antagonistic of Article 21 of the Constitution in
nearly right to live adds Right to die or Right not to survive a compelled life and the Section
hinders with that right. The court admitted with the acumen given by Bombay High Court in the
case of Maruti Shripati Dubal v. State of Maharashtra5,

“The freedom of speech and expression adds freedom not to speak out & to be silent. The
freedom of association and movement besides adds the freedom not to enlist to any association
or to move at any place. The freedom of business and occupation adds freedom not to do
business and to abort the extant business. Reasonably it must adhere that right to live as
identified by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution will add also a right not to live or not to be
compelled to live. To focus it easily, Article 21 would add a right to die, or to abort owns life.”

The High Court also detected that this natural about the wish to end life and thence the right to
die. The channels embraced for aborting one’s life may be not natural diverging from famine to
restraint. But, the wish which drives one to address to the channel is natural. Suicide or an
3
1994 AIR 1844, 1994 SCC (3) 394
4
1996 AIR 946, 1996 SCC (2) 648
5
 1987 (1) BomCR 499, (1986) 88 BOMLR 589
attempt to commit suicide is not an aspect of a general life. It is an instance of deformity or of
bizarre circumstances or of a trait of personality which is not common. Abnormality is natural
hardly because they are noteworthy.

The High Court farther detected that the right to die or to abort one’s life is an old thing and it is
also known to sophistication. Few religions as Hindu and Jain have authorized of the usual
practice of aborting one’s life by own action in specific situations while castigating it in another
situations. The agenda of Buddhism has been confusing though it has bolstered suicide beneath
specific situations as in the benefit of religion and country. Neither the aged nor the current
testimony has castigated suicide accurately. Nonetheless, Christianity has castigated suicide as a
mode of manslaughter. In contradiction, the Holy Quran has acknowledged it as a crime bad than
homicide.

The Supreme Court’s statement on attempt to commit suicide was doubtless altered in the Gian
Kaur Case. The court declared that right to die cannot be infer from right to life under Article
21. The court said, “Right to life is an inborn right displayed in Article 21 yet self destruction is
an anomalous fetus removal or disposal of life and, thus, clashing and flighty with the hypothesis
of right to life. With dignity and in all modesty, we catch no affinity in the essence of the other
rights, such as the right to freedom of speech etc. to administer an equal basis to grip that the
'right to life' also adds the 'right to die'. With dignity, the proportion is awkward, for the logic
directed in the context of Article 21. The orders detailing to other fundamental rights where the
lack of urgency to practice a right was declared to be added within the practice of that right are
not present to help the sight taken in P. Rathinam Case qua Article 21.To provide effect and
willing to the term 'Life' in Article 21, it has been infer as life with human respect. Any feature
of life which forms it respectable may be interprets into it but not that which quenches it and is,
hence, illogical with the practiced survival of life forming in erasing the right itself. The right to
die, if any, is naturally illogical with the right to life as is death with life.”

Thence Section 309 was upheld as constitutional. But the intention with which such section was
firstly drafted in the Indian Penal Code and the following advocating of the section i.e. to
safeguard life and daunt such self-destructive exercise of suicide is now slightly failing its
purpose. This is proved from the increase of suicide cases in current years.

Viewing at the crime of attempt to suicide, it has been detected by an English writer:

“It appears to be a tremendous methodology to perpetrate further enduring on even a solitary

Subsequently to conclude, the principle issues seeing suicide in India are as per the
following:

1. Criminalizing of suicide

2. Absence of support to suicide helpline

3. The winning arrangement of instruction

4. And, the usual public domain of discouraged public.

The answer for these issues rotates around giving mental directing at places like higher auxiliary
schools, universities, workplaces and different spots where individuals experience extraordinary
pressure. On the off chance that at all any individual wishes to submit such an awful
demonstration, at that point he/she ought to be treated as an individual experiencing brief mental
instability thus ought to be sent to restoration focuses.