Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 has been repealed. The Supreme Court, in P. Rathinam (1994), stated that the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution included the “right not to live a forced life”, thus holding the provision unconstitutional. But subsequently, in Gian Kaur (1996), a five-judge bench overruled P. Rathinam, upholding the validity of Section 309. Gian Kaur stated that sanctity of life was a significant aspect of Article 21, and “by no stretch of imagination can extinction of life be read to be included in protection of life”. Similarly, the Law Commission of India in its 42nd Report (1971) recommended the repeal of Section 309, while in the 156th Report (1997) recommended retention, based on Gian Kaur. The Commission’s 210th Report (2008) again recommended a repeal of the law, which was favourably reiterated in Parliament and decided upon recently.
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