On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court requested the Maharashtra Attorney General to appear in a PIL highlighting the plight of a woman who was rescued from a psychiatric hospital after 12 years, mainly due to the non-implementation of the new Law of Mental Health 2017 in Maharashtra. .
The PIL filed by city psychiatrist Dr. Harish Shetty states that the new law establishes mental health review boards for patients to seek remedies under the law, including early discharge. However, in the case of the woman, the board was not available.
After the bank that understands SS Judges Shinde and Sarang Kotwal they briefly heard from the petitioner’s lawyer, noted that this was a “crucial matter” and requested that Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni be present at the afternoon session.
Kumbhakoni asked for time on behalf of the State and stated that all Supreme Court orders will have to be investigated.
The matter will now be dealt with on April 12, 2022.
In her plea, Shetty cited the egregious case of a woman who was admitted to Thane Regional Mental Hospital at the request of her husband in 2009, and remained there until the Family Court intervened in November last year.
The Family Court ordered a report from the psychiatrist who observed that the woman “He had no significant psychiatric symptoms.Another Express Committee formed by the court to assess his condition said “she could be discharged as she was consistent and her thoughts relevant.”
The institutional placement order was used in her husband’s divorce proceedings to keep her out of the marital home and restrict her re-entry. She was not only abandoned by her husband but also by her own family, the court noted.
According to the guilty plea, Thane’s facility was still following the 1987 Repeal Act, which provided for semi-annual examinations, but the wife had already spent 12 years in the psychiatric hospital. On record, the woman was discharged in 2014, she was sent back after her husband refused to take custody of her.
“I can only sympathize with her because she spent 12 precious years of her life under confinement in Thane Regional, which is nothing less than imprisonment.family court judge Swati Chauhan observed in the November order.
He added that the Mental Health Review Board’s search was “unsuccessful” and how many men and women may be suffering in such psychiatric hospitals.
The PIL is seeking a full report on the status of all individuals in such mental health facilities and a review of their status for discharge by the board under the new law. The plea states that, despite the fact that the Supreme Court has issued orders regarding the dismissal of said persons, the situation seems to be far from that.
Also, look for an investigation against the Thane Mental facility.
Shetty highlights section 19 of the new Law that guarantees the right of people with mental illness to live and be part of an integrated society. He states that a person cannot be confined in a psychiatric hospital simply because they have no family or are abandoned by them.
Section 19(2) of the Act provides that the abandoned person shall receive adequate legal aid and support from the State to live in the family home.
According to section 18 (5) (c) only in exceptional cases should long-term care be provided in a mental health facility, while section 88 (1) makes the doctor in charge of health care mental.
Article 89 (5) recognizes the right to leave the facility. Respondents include the State of Maharashtra, the State Mental Health Authority and the Regional Mental Hospital.
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