Suicide: A Crime?

 

 

RIGHT TO LIFE, RIGHT TO DIE

            Right to Life and Right to Die are not two separate rights but two sides of the same coin. The right to Life is the right to decide whether one will or will not continue living.

            On March 9, 2018, Hon'ble Supreme Court took the first step towards giving judicial support to much canvased proposition that it was inhuman to punish a distressed person who failed to end his/her life.

            Section 309 of Indian Penal Code provides that ''whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offense shall be punished with a simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year (or with fine, or with both). Regarding this issue, there is a judgement of Hon'ble Justice D.Y.Chandrachud referring to a constitution bench of the Supreme Court in 1996 in Gian Kaur case which ruled that Right to Life did not include the right to die. The judgement of Gian Kaur states that right to life with dignity could not be construed to include the right to terminate natural life at least before commencement of the natural process of certain death.

            Verdict of Hon'ble Chandrachud states that Dignity is the core value of life and personal liberty which infuses every stage of human existence. Dignity in the process of dying as well as dignity in death reflects a long yearning through the ages that the passage away from life should be bare foot of suffering. Dignity in death has a sense of realism that permits the Right to Life. It has a basic connect with the autonomy of the individual and the right to self-determination. Loss of control over the body and the mind are portents of the deprivation of liberty.  

            Hon'ble Justice Chandrachud again said "This quotes holding in Gian Kaur that right to life does not include the right to die in the context of suicide and may require to be revisited in the future in view of domestic and international developments pointing towards decriminalisation of suicide"

Hon'ble Justice Chandrachud referred to section 115(2) of the Mental Health Care Act, which mandates the government to provide care, treatment and rehabilitation to a person having severe stress and who attempted to commit suicide, to reduce the risk of recurrence. It removes the element of culpability which attach to an attempt to commit suicide under section 309 of Indian Penal Code.

Hon'ble Justice Chandrachud  in his verdict, giving a philosophical tinge to his legal view on the decriminalisation of the suicide, he stated that the Right to Life is the right to decide whether one will or will not continue living. If the right to life were only a right to decide to continue living and did not also include a right to decide not to continue living, then it would be a duty to live rather than a right to life.