According to the verdict, suicide is a cardinal sin in Islam and is an act against life.
ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) has declared that the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2022, relating to omission of the offense of attempted suicide, is un-Islamic.
“After carefully hearing the parties and meticulously examining the record, we are inclined to accept Shariat Petition No. 03/I/2023 and Shariat Petition No. 01/I/2025.
“[We] “Declaring that decriminalization of an offense through the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2022, by which Section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) has been omitted, is against the principles of the Holy Quran and Sunnah,” stated the 26-page judgment written by FSC Judge Syed Muhammad Anwer.
According to the verdict, suicide is a cardinal sin in Islam and is an act against life; hence any attempt to commit it is also considered an act of promoting an act against life.
“Accordingly, in addition to accepting these Shariat petitions, we declare that the impugned law, being contrary to the Holy Quran and Sunnah, will have no legal effect immediately after the issuance of this judgment. Accordingly, Section 325 of the PPC, which was removed by the enactment of the impugned law, remains restored,” it added.
A three-member bench of the FSC, headed by Chief Justice Iqbal Hameed ur Rehman, heard the matter.
The ruling noted that the reasons presented to parliament by the sponsor of the bill (that a suicide attempt is carried out only by people suffering from depression or mental disorders and therefore the law should be decriminalized to protect such people from social stigmatization) are not only erroneous but also contrary to the principles of the Quran and Sunnah.
The court observed that decriminalization of the crime would allow sane people who attempted suicide to go unpunished as omission of Article 325 would leave no provision of law under which they could be charged.
Second, the order said, anyone involved in instigating children or other vulnerable people to commit suicide would also escape prosecution under the current legal framework.
Thirdly, people involved in incitement to suicide cannot be charged or prosecuted, considering that the Holy Quran prohibits helping each other in sinful acts. However, since the offense under Article 325 had been omitted, no legal action could be taken against those who instigated or instigated such acts.
The court further observed that although the advice of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) is not binding on the government and is advisory in nature, it is preferable for the government to act accordingly or consider it carefully.
The judgment emphasized that under Pakistan’s constitutional scheme, the CII plays an important role in ensuring that laws conform to the principles of the Holy Quran and Sunnah, which form the basic rule of the Constitution as reflected in Article 2A.
He said the government, as a responsible litigant, is expected to avoid unnecessary legal complications and comply with the court’s directions in letter and spirit even when it has room for maneuver.
“We are of the opinion that such conduct on the part of the government would be more in line with constitutionalism,” the ruling states.
The order added that if the federal government seeks to protect people with mental illness from social stigmatization, it may consider acting on the CII recommendations.
However, he stressed that decriminalizing such a serious and life-threatening crime is not the solution.
Instead, the court suggested the effective implementation of existing laws, such as the Mental Health Ordinance of 2001, which has since been transferred to the provinces under the 18th Amendment.
The court observed that the intensity of depression varies from case to case and cannot justify a blanket exemption. “A blanket coverage cannot be given to each and every case of depression, mental illness or disorder under which an exception can be granted for the commission of any crime, particularly one affecting human life.”
The judgment termed the objections raised against the CII’s opinion as self-contradictory, pointing out that if the procedural law already provides exemptions for mentally ill people, then complete decriminalization of the crime is not logically justified, since the act can also be committed by sane people.
“The law is intended for the general public and not for exceptional segments of society. Issues relating to specific segments are addressed by exceptions within the law or by special legislation,” the court observed.
Referring to arguments presented in parliament, the ruling stated that the claim that suicide attempts are solely due to depression or mental illness raises critical issues.
He asked whether this crime was always committed by people suffering from mental illness and whether such people were incapable of committing other crimes.
The court further questioned whether the assumption that only the mentally ill attempt suicide justifies removing a specific crime from the Pakistan Penal Code and leaving others intact.
The ruling concludes by raising a fundamental question: if one accepts the premise that suicide attempts are always related to mental illness, does this mean that a sane person cannot commit such an act at all?
