• Request Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court to set aside the judgement declaring decriminalisation of suicide attempts repugnant to Islamic injunctions
• Argue neither Holy Quran, Sunnah of Holy Prophet (pbuh), nor juristic consensus mandates criminal punishment for the act
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Psychiatric Society (PPS) on Tuesday approached the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court, challenging the Federal Shariat Court’s (FSC) May 18 judgement declaring the government’s decriminalisation of suicide attempts repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.
The FSC had also struck down the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2022, to the extent that it omitted Section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), and declared the removal of the offence from the PPC repugnant to the injunctions of Islam.
Filed under Article 203-F(2B) of the Constitution, the appeal, submitted by Advocate Barrister Muhammad Mumtaz Ali on behalf of the PPS, requested the SC Shariat Appellate Bench to set aside the FSC judgement.
The appeal argued that the FSC erred in holding that the omission of Section 325 of the PPC was repugnant to the injunctions of Islam despite the absence of any express provision in the Holy Quran, Sunnah, or authoritative Islamic jurisprudence mandating the criminalisation of suicide attempts or the imposition of temporal punishment.
The FSC failed to appreciate that decriminalisation of suicide attempts does not amount to legalisation of suicide, which remains prohibited and a major sin under Islamic law, the petition contended.
According to the appeal, the Quranic and Prophetic injunctions relied upon by the FSC establish the prohibition and culpability of suicide before Allah, but do not prescribe any specific worldly punishment for a suicide attempt, thereby recognising a distinction between religious culpability and the imposition of criminal sanctions by the legislature.
The petition argued that criminalising suicide attempts neither advances the recognised objectives of punishment nor contributes to the preservation of life. Instead, the threat of prosecution discourages vulnerable individuals from reporting suicide attempts and seeking medical assistance or mental health treatment.
The FSC, it said, also overlooked established medical and scientific understanding that suicidal behaviour is often associated with mental illness, psychological distress, domestic violence, trauma, or severe socio-economic pressures, warranting treatment, counselling and rehabilitation rather than penal sanctions.
Moreover, the FSC failed to adequately consider that existing legal provisions, including Section 84 of the PPC and other statutory safeguards, already provide a comprehensive framework for addressing issues arising from mental incapacity and diminished responsibility.
