Sangeet Kaur Deo said she was disappointed that very little progress had been made despite the issue being talked about “for years”.

She said that in October 2021, the health ministry had said it supported the move to decriminalise suicide attempts by abolishing the said law.

Those convicted under Section 309 face a maximum jail term of one year or a fine or both.

The ministry had also said the matter would be brought up to the Cabinet, Sangeet said.

“Regrettably, as per yesterday’s announcement, we haven’t gone very far,” Sangeet, who was representing the Bar Council, said at a dialogue on decriminalising suicide attempts.

She was referring to health minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s announcement yesterday that his ministry had received the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ (AGC) research findings on decriminalising suicide attempts, which, he said, would also be discussed with the home ministry and police.

He said these findings would be used to review a previous Cabinet memorandum on the matter.

However, Khairy noted that the home ministry seemed to be “not on board” with decriminalising suicide attempts when he first proposed the matter to the Cabinet.

Sangeet said it was quite worrying that there was resistance from the home ministry.

Meanwhile, Dr Venugopal Balchand of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing said while the law was likely enacted to deter suicide, statistics showed that it had been counter-productive.

Saying suicide attempts were a health issue and should not be treated as a crime, he added: “In the blink of an eye, a cry for help becomes an avenue of punishment.”