IPC · Chapter XVI · Of offences affecting the human body
IPC section 309, “Attempt to commit suicide”, was not carried into the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which replaced the IPC on 1 July 2024.
Not carried into the BNS: attempting suicide is no longer an offence in general. BNS section 226 punishes a narrower act, attempting suicide with intent to compel or restrain a public servant from doing their official duty, with up to one year’s simple imprisonment, or fine, or both, or community service.
Indian Penal Code, 1860
Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine, or with both.
The texts are India Code’s. The amendment markers and footnotes of the official print are left out, so the old section reads as it stood when it was repealed; State amendments are not shown. The PDFs linked below carry the full history.
The BNS repealed the IPC from 1 July 2024 (section 358(1)). The repeal does not reach back: under section 358(2), penalties and punishments incurred for offences committed against the IPC still stand, and proceedings for them may be started, continued and enforced as if the IPC had not been repealed. An act done before 1 July 2024 is therefore dealt with under the IPC section; an act done on or after that date, under the BNS.
