bill no 153 of 2016 the indian penal code (amendment) bill, 2016 byshri baijayant panda, mp a billfurther to amend the indian penal code, 1860be  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—2  for section 309 of the indian penal code, 1860, the following section shall be substituted, namely:—substitution of new section for section 3095"309 (1) where any person attempts to commit suicide or performs any act towards the commission of such attempt, in a manner that is likely to cause breakdown of public order, then a police officer, not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police, shall apply to a judicial magistrate for determination to that effectattempt to commit suicide that is likely to cause breakdown of public order10(2) where the judicial magistrate makes a determination under sub-section (1), he may pass an order allowing a police officer to detain such person in a police station for such time as may be specified in the order and direct the police officer to take such other measures as may be necessary to ensure that the detainee does not attempt to commit suicide while in custody:provided that the judicial magistrate's order shall specifically state all measures that may be taken to ensure that the person does not attempt to commit suicide while in custody15illustration: x begins a hunger strike in a public place and incites a crowd by proclaiming that he will fast unto death x is attempting to commit suicide in a manner that is likely to cause breakdown of public order20(3) where any person imminently attempts to commit suicide or performs any act towards the imminent commission of such attempt, in a manner that is likely to cause breakdown of public order, a police officer, not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police, or equivalent rank, shall have the power to detain such person in a police station and to take such other measures as may be necessary to ensure that he does not attempt to commit suicide while in custody:provided that the police officer shall, within twenty-four hours of such detention, apply to the judicial magistrate for determination to that effect25illustration: x climbs on the roof of a tall building and incites a crowd by proclaiming that he will jump down to his death a is imminently attempting to commit suicide in a manner that is likely to cause breakdown of public order30(4) where the judicial magistrate makes a determination under sub-section (3), he may pass an order allowing further detention of such person in a police station for such time as may be specified in the order and direct the police officer to take such other measures as may be necessary to ensure that the he does not attempt to commit suicide while in  custody:provided that if the judicial magistrate does not make a determination, such person shall not be detained any more35explanation— for the purposes of this section, 'such other measures as may be necessary to ensure that the he does not attempt to commit suicide while in custody', include measures to forcibly feed someone attempting suicide by refusing40(5) where any person attempts to commit suicide or performs any act towards the commission such attempt of, which does not lead to death of such person, the person who abets in commission of such attempt or performance of such act shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsit is an indication of the tendency of many of our laws to stick to status quo that the anachronistic provision that criminalises the attempt to commit suicides continues to operate today the mental state of a person who commits suicide deserves understanding and careful intervention, and the blunt instrument of criminal sanction is markedly ill-suited for this purpose a large number of other jurisdictions have long since realised this fact, and do not criminalise attempts to commit suicide today despite recommendations of the law commission and the supreme court to adopt a similar approach in india too, the same has not been achieved so farthis bill addresses this situation by decriminalising attempts to commit suicide it also addresses two concerns that may arise with such a proposal first, it grants the authorities narrowly defined powers to intervene if they come across a suicide attempt that has the potential to cause breakdown of public order secondly, it clarifies that the decriminalisation of suicide attempts does not in any way dislodge the legal liability of those who abet suicide, whether their abetment ultimately results in a suicide or an attempt to commit suicidehence this billnew delhi;baijayant pandamay 6, 2016 annexure extract from the indian penal code, 1860(45 of 1860)|     |     |     |     |    ||------|------|------|------|-----|attempt to commit suicide309  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———— a billfurther to amend the indian penal code, 1860————(shri baijayant panda, mp)gmgipmrnd—1086ls(s3)—02-07-2016