CHITTA RANJAN BHATTACHARJEE Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, a retired Superintending Engineer, Department of Power, Government of Tripura being a public spirited person raised a serious question regarding the public demand, particularly the issue of non-compliance of the provisions of the Mental Health Act, 1987 (for short 'the Act, 1987') and the rules made thereunder in 2006 in the State of Tripura with regard to the mentally ill persons, especially those who are found wandering at large in the public places in this writ petition with a prayer for a direction to the State respondents to perform their duties cast upon them under the provisions of the Act, 1987 and the rules made thereunder with regard to the mentally ill persons.

(2.) The petitioner in the writ petition stated that few mentally ill persons move at large in the public streets/places at Agartala and other places of Tripura mostly in urban areas and he has found such persons generally of ill health with dirty scanty ragged cloths or some even without clothes either sitting and muttering to themselves or moving with stick/object in the hand or muttering and making different postures such as fighting, controlling traffic etc. Sometimes they make such postures at women passers-by who out of fear try to run away and occasionally meet with accident by falling down. It is also contended in the writ petition that sometimes young children are found pelting stones at mentally ill persons and causing bleeding injuries to the body of such persons and not only that sometimes such mentally ill persons pick up and eat left over rotten food staff from the dustbin. After witnessing all the aforesaid incidents, the petitioner considered to raise the issue by filing the instant writ petition before this Court as this Court is the custodian of the fundamental rights of the citizens even if the citizen is mentally ill, particularly when those citizens are protected by the provisions of the Act, 1987. In the writ petition he made certain allegations against the activities of the police personnel who are supposed to discharge their duties as per the provisions of Sections 23 and 24 of the Act, 1987.

(3.) The State respondents by way of filing a counter-affidavit partly admitted the facts stated in the writ petition stating, inter alia, that sometimes few mentally ill persons are found moving in the streets/places in the State, but violent and other misconduct are still not reported. In their counter-affidavit, the State respondents also contended that the personnel of Tripura Police are fully aware of the contents of the Act, 1987, particularly Section 23 (1) and their duties towards mentally ill persons. According to the State respondents, no direction is required to be issued from this Court since the Director General of Police, respondent No. 2 herein issued a memorandum on 17.3.2009 (Annexure-R/1 to the counter-affidavit) wherein the respondent No. 2 instructed the concerned police officials to take necessary steps regarding the mental patient/ill person reported or noticed within their jurisdiction as per the provisions of the Act, 1987.