MUMBAI: Two years after the Supreme Court asked parliamentarians to quash the law that treats suicide survivors as criminals, it remains in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Even as Mumbai witnessed a spate of suicides this week, legal and health experts say it is high time the government looked into providing relief for those who survive a suicide bid.

In May 2011, while giving its ruling in the Aruna Shanbaug euthanasia case, the apex court had asked the Parliament to consider the feasibility of deleting Section 309 (attempt to commit suicide) of the IPC. “The time has come when it should be deleted by Parliament as it has become anachronistic. A person attempts suicide in depression and hence needs help rather than punishment,” the court had said.

According to existing laws, a suicide survivor can be criminally prosecuted and punished with a one year prison term and a fine. There have been calls for the deletion of this law. The Law Commission of India had asked the government to repeal the law in 2008. “Persons who attempt suicide are victims and should not be treated as criminals,” said advocate Arfan Sait. Healthcare professionals too urge for a lenient view from the law-enforcers. “Attempt to suicide has to be decriminalized to remove the stigma. Such persons have to be dealt with compassion,” said psychiatrist Dr H Shetty.

In 2012, the government proposed a special law ( Mental Health Care Bill) that has provisions to keep persons who attempt suicide outside the purview of criminal law. A provision in the proposed laws states, “No complaint, investigation or prosecution shall be entertained against the person who attempted to commit suicide, notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Penal Code.”

While not providing complete exemption from criminal prosecution, the new legislation stipulates, “Any person who has attempted to commit suicide shall be examined by a psychiatrist before any criminal investigation takes place. (If the psychiatrist) certifies that the person has a mental illness and there are reasonable clinical grounds to believe the suicide attempt was a result of the illness, no complaint shall be entertained against the person.” The Bill is yet to be introduced in the Parliament.