Abstract

Looking at statistics of suicide in India a total of 1,53,052 suicides were reported in the country during 2020 showing an increase of 10.0% in comparison to 2019 and furthermore, the rate of suicides has increased by 8.7% during 2020 over 2019. Statistics provided by National Crime Records Bureau Ministry of Home Affairs. Every year, more than 1,00,000 people commit suicide in our country. The incidence and rate of suicides during 2016-2020 is presented in the manuscript. One has to understand that this imposes a huge social, emotional and economic burden on a nation. This shows us just how incredibly important this discussion is for a young legal audience. To help understands how the drafting of legislative acts that aim to punish over rehabilitate those in desperate need of medical care can be of catastrophic damage to a nation. Retrospecting the suicide cases globally and in Indian context; the paper aims to brings forth a discussion on very important aspect of dignified life among law researchers and students. The paper unfurls the history of Indian laws on suicide and emergence of suicide prevention laws. It highlights the emergence of Indian Penal Code, more commonly referred to as the IPC; which governs all criminal acts, offences, and the punishments for said offences. The Paper will discuss section 309 of IPC and Medical Healthcare act 2017 discussing the validity, conflicts of the existing laws and acts as per the emergent situation. The paper tries to unfurl a discussion, whether right to die can be included in right to life or not and will the Indian government allow it. The paper also discusses prevalent acts and amendments at international level related to Active and passive Euthanasia. The discussion of prevalent laws will bring a retrospective comparison and contrast of various reasons that weigh in spiking the nations suicide rate and mental health issues.

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