FSC strikes down 2022 legislation decriminalising suicide attempt

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) on Monday restored Section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), 1860, which criminalises suicide attempt.

The court declared the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act 2022 — which had decriminalised suicide attempts — as un-Islamic and struck down the amendment.

The reserved verdict was announced by a three-member bench comprising Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman, Justice Dr. Syed Muhammad Anwer and Justice Ameer Muhammad Khan.

In December 2022, then-president Arif Alvi had approved the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act 2022, which repealed Section 325 related to attempted suicide.

The amendment bill was introduced by Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Senator Shahadat Awan in September 2021. It was passed by the Senate in May 2022 and later approved by the National Assembly in October 2022.

Section 325 of the PPC states: “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.”

The amendment was challenged in the Federal Shariat Court by Advocate Hammad Saeed Dar, who argued that repealing the law was against the injunctions of the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

The petitioner requested the court to declare the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act 2022 “repugnant” to Islamic injunctions.