Trashing Section 309 of IPC : Continuing fast of Sharmila
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 13, 2014 -

Scrap Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code and suddenly Irom Sharmila is in the news. And when Irom Chanu is in the news it follows that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act too will come to the foreground.

Not surprising then that the Janata Dal (U) has taken the lead to question the Government on the wisdom of extending the Army Act in the North East.

To come back to Section 309 of the IPC, Irom Sharmila has been under detention all these years ever since she launched her indefinite fast in 2000 to demand that the Act be repealed from Manipur.

All these years she has been kept alive through feeding pipes under judicial custody, which is the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, in this case.

Definitely a long, long time and while the Government could keep her alive all these years thanks to the provision that attempting to kill oneself is a punishable crime, the decision of the Centre to scrap this law may well add another headache to the State Government.

Does this mean that the State Government would have to release Sharmila and let her continue her fast. Or will it come up with another charge to stop her from continuing with her fast ?

The latter case is more likely but be sure that the decision of the Centre will add another chapter to the debate over the continuing imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Not likely that the Centre will lift the said Act if one goes by the recent statement of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Making the situation all that more difficult for the State Government.

There will be debates over the decision of the Centre to trash Section 309 of the IPC and it is better to leave the matter to the opinions of legal luminaries and Constitutional experts.

There will however be no debate over the point that the State Government must already be looking for ways to stop Sharmila continue with her fast.

It is interesting to note that the State Government went ahead and lifted the Disturbed Area tag from the Municipal areas of Imphal and hence made the Army Act redundant in these areas following the mass protest over the murder of Th Manorama by Assam Rifles personnel in 2004.

The State Government may not have officially said anything over the Army Act but the very act of lifting the Disturbed Area tag from some parts of Imphal is more than an indication of where it stands, vis-a-vis the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Pity that Manipur does not have a Farooq Abdullah as a political leader of the place to openly speak out against the prolonged imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act here.

In line with the decision of the Centre, Section 309 of the IPC has been maded redundant but it remains to be seen how the State Government deals with the new development, which is legally stopping Sharmila from continuing with her fast.