Mumbai: A psychiatrist in the city, Dr. Harish Shetty, has taken to the Bombay High Court over the plight of patients who are still in hospitals, even though they are not seriously mentally ill.
His PIL urges the implementation of the Mental Health Act, 2017 in Maharashtra, saying it protects the rights of mentally ill people and allows them to move Mental Health Review Boards to seek discharge from mental health institutions.
“Although several courts have issued orders, including the Supreme Court, regarding post-discharge facilities for mentally ill people if they do not need to stay in mental institutions, the situation appears far from satisfactory,” Shetty’s petition says. Her PIL is “inspired” by the December 10, 2021 family court order that told a “sad story” of a woman admitted in 2009 to the Regional Psychiatric Hospital, Thane. She remained there until 2021, when the family court determined that she had been abandoned by her husband and her family.
“Ironically, said order records that the woman had been discharged by the medical superintendent of the psychiatric hospital in 2014. But as her husband refused to accept her… she was back in the psychiatric hospital where she spent another 7 years. .. ”, she reports.
Shetty’s petition says the hospital followed the Mental Health Act of 1987, which also provided for regular reports from a medical officer, but the woman had spent “12 precious years of her life” in the hospital. The medical officer’s report said she had no significant psychiatric symptoms and a family court-appointed panel of experts recommended discharge as she was consistent and her thoughts were relevant. The woman reconciled with her husband, son and her family.
Shetty’s petition adds that family court judge Swati Chauhan recorded that her pursuit of the Mental Health Review Board was arduous, that she was unable to benefit from the new law, and similarly many children may languish in psychiatric hospitals.
Shetty is seeking an investigation by a court-appointed body in the Thane hospital case and a report on the condition of patients in state institutions. On Friday, a bench led by Judge SS Shinde released the PIL for the March 30 hearing.
His PIL urges the implementation of the Mental Health Act, 2017 in Maharashtra, saying it protects the rights of mentally ill people and allows them to move Mental Health Review Boards to seek discharge from mental health institutions.
“Although several courts have issued orders, including the Supreme Court, regarding post-discharge facilities for mentally ill people if they do not need to stay in mental institutions, the situation appears far from satisfactory,” Shetty’s petition says. Her PIL is “inspired” by the December 10, 2021 family court order that told a “sad story” of a woman admitted in 2009 to the Regional Psychiatric Hospital, Thane. She remained there until 2021, when the family court determined that she had been abandoned by her husband and her family.
“Ironically, said order records that the woman had been discharged by the medical superintendent of the psychiatric hospital in 2014. But as her husband refused to accept her… she was back in the psychiatric hospital where she spent another 7 years. .. ”, she reports.
Shetty’s petition says the hospital followed the Mental Health Act of 1987, which also provided for regular reports from a medical officer, but the woman had spent “12 precious years of her life” in the hospital. The medical officer’s report said she had no significant psychiatric symptoms and a family court-appointed panel of experts recommended discharge as she was consistent and her thoughts were relevant. The woman reconciled with her husband, son and her family.
Shetty’s petition adds that family court judge Swati Chauhan recorded that her pursuit of the Mental Health Review Board was arduous, that she was unable to benefit from the new law, and similarly many children may languish in psychiatric hospitals.
Shetty is seeking an investigation by a court-appointed body in the Thane hospital case and a report on the condition of patients in state institutions. On Friday, a bench led by Judge SS Shinde released the PIL for the March 30 hearing.
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