Federal Shariat Court restores criminal status of attempted suicide

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Shariat Court on Monday declared the 2022 legislation decriminalising attempted suicide un-Islamic and void, restoring earlier legal provisions that treated the act as a criminal offence.

In its written judgment, the court allowed petitions challenging the 2022 amendments and ruled that the legislation was not in accordance with Islamic injunctions.

The court held that changes made to Pakistan’s criminal law in 2022, which removed provisions treating attempted suicide as an offence under the Code of Criminal Procedure, could not withstand legal scrutiny.

“The relevant law is declared void,” the court stated in its verdict.

As a result of the ruling, provisions previously removed from the criminal code have now been restored, effectively reinstating attempted suicide as an offence under Pakistani law.

The case was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rahman, Justice Muhammad Anwar Iqbal and Justice Ameer Khan.

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According to court proceedings, the petitions were argued by lawyers Hamad Hassan Dar and Azam Malik.

The court had earlier reserved its judgment before announcing the verdict on Monday following completion of hearings.

Under the now-nullified 2022 amendments, the provision criminalising attempted suicide had been removed from the Code of Criminal Procedure, a change that the court has now overturned.

No immediate reaction from the government was available following the verdict.