KOZHIKODE: The Kerala High Court has initiated criminal proceedings against 10 government departments, including Social Justice and Prisons, based on a TNIE report which had revealed the shocking plight of convicted/remanded prisoners in the state government-run mental asylums.
The report titled ‘72-yr-old remand prisoner languishing in state mental asylum for 50 years’ (August 3, 2019) detailed the misery of prisoners — including 72-year-old Vijayan (name changed) — at the mental health centres in Kuthiravattam, Peroorkada and Thrissur.
Amicus curiae
After TNIE brought the issue into focus, High Court Justice Alexander Thomas gathered reports from the Kerala Legal Services Authority (KeLSA) as well as the registrar (subordinate judiciary) and recommended suo motu judicial proceedings after the court found the retention of mentally ill persons in centres without rehabilitation for long is a violation of fundamental rights.The judge also appointed High Court senior counsel P K Suresh Kumar as the amicus curiae in the case.
The report submitted by the KeLSA member secretary says there are 14 long-standing undertrial persons at Kuthiravattom. Of them 11 are not fit for trial, but can be sent to the rehabilitation centre. Altogether, there are 77 convicted/remand prisoners in government mental health centres of whom 22 are acquitted (18 fit for discharge and four not fit).
The report further says a decision has been taken to form regional committees at the three centres to examine the possibility of rehabilitation of prisoners who are in prisons/mental health centres for more than five years. A couple of months ago, the Social Justice Department had discharged eight acquitted prisoners from the Peroorkada centre and shifted them to rehab centres.