What happened
The Federal Shariat Court on Monday declared the decriminalisation of suicide attempts repugnant to the injunctions of Islam and struck down the 2022 legislation that had removed the offence from the Pakistan Penal Code, Dawn reported on 19 May 2026.
A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, Justice Syed Muhammad Anwar and Justice Amir Khan announced the reserved verdict on two separate petitions challenging the amendments introduced through the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2022. The court declared the relevant provisions of the 2022 law repugnant to Islam and void, and restored Section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which had been repealed.
The judgement, authored by Justice Dr Syed Muhammad Anwer, held that the decriminalisation of the offence “whereby Section 325 of the PPC, 1860 has been omitted is against the principles of the Holy Quran and Sunnah”. The court observed that “suicide is undoubtedly a cardinal sin in Islam and is an anti-life act, hence any effort to attempt its commission is also considered as an act to promote an anti-life act”. It ruled that the 2022 amendment would have no legal effect following the judgement and that Section 325 stood restored.
Before the 2022 amendment, Section 325 prescribed simple imprisonment, a fine, or both for a person who attempted suicide. The provision had been repealed as part of broader criminal-law reforms aimed at treating suicide attempts as a mental-health issue rather than a criminal offence.
The arguments
The petitioners contended that suicide was prohibited in Islam and that criminalising attempts served as a deterrent, arguing that decriminalisation effectively created a “right to suicide” that they said was impermissible under Islamic jurisprudence.
The respondents, including the federation of Pakistan, opposed the pleas. They argued that the 2022 amendment did not legalise suicide but merely repealed the punishment for an attempt, shifting the focus to treatment and rehabilitation, and that penalising mentally distressed individuals contradicted Islamic principles of mercy.
The court found that reasoning flawed. It examined the objects and reasons of the 2022 legislation, which stated that suicide was “always” committed by a person suffering from depression or a mental illness, and questioned whether that was the only cause. It listed other situations involving suicide attempts, including attempts linked to terrorism, hunger strikes for political gain, self-immolation for agitation, relief from the financial burden of medical care, online games such as the Blue Whale Challenge, and religious cult motivations.
Why it matters
The ruling restores a criminal offence that had been repealed only four years earlier, and it reopens a debate over whether suicide attempts should be treated as a crime or as a public-health matter. The decision applies immediately, according to the court, though higher judicial review remained possible.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Quotations are as carried by Dawn. Sources reviewed on 2026-05-19.
- Dawn — "Shariat Court reverses move to decriminalise death by suicide"19 May 2026 · Reports the bench, the verdict, the restored Section 325, the arguments of the petitioners and respondents, and the court's reasoning.
