The Supreme Court has said that the condition of the mentally ill people in the asylum is “inhuman and atrocious.”
A mental asylum in Badaun in Uttar Pradesh shackled people with psychological disorders, tying their feet with iron chains and padlocks. The atrocious condition of these people came to light after a lawyer from South Delhi filed a petition in the Supreme Court, asking for the fundamental rights and dignity of the patients to be protected, reported The Indian Express.
On Thursday, 3 January, the Supreme Court said the condition of the mentally ill people in the asylum is “inhuman and atrocious.” The court has stated that the chaining cannot be allowed to go on. The rights of the those with mental illness, under Article 21 of the Constitution (which concerns personal liberty), cannot be compromised, noted the bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer.
The court stated the above during the hearing of the public interest litigation filed by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal. Bansal had said that the treatment of people with mental illness in the Baduan asylum violated the Mental Health Care Act of 2017.
After perusing photographs of the patients, the bench said, “These are mentally challenged persons. You (petitioner) have placed the photographs and they all are chained. It is atrocious.” The bench added, “something has to be done immediately for these poor people.”
“In a case where a patient may be violent, even that does not mean that he will be chained. It cannot be allowed,” the bench declared.
The petitioner had sought a direction to the government of Uttar Pradesh to both ensure that these people are unchained and to provide mental health care treatment to them. He referred to the National Medical Health Survey 2016, and pointed out that around 14 percent of India is in need of active mental health interventions; he also noted that two percent of India’s population was suffering from severe mental disorders.
The PIL also requested a direction to all the states and Union Territories to begin a programme to offer treatment and mental health care to people who suffer from mental illness “placed near or inside faith-based mental asylums,” reports PTI.
Stating that the non-implementation of the Act amounted to a gross violation of life and liberty of citizens, the bench issued notices to the Centre, all the states and the Union Territories.
“This (chaining a person) is not only inhuman but also violative of the rights of such persons under Article 21 of the Constitution as a person suffering from mental disability is still a human being and his dignity cannot be compromised,” the bench said.
(With inputs from PTI and The Indian Express)
