Bench orders issues of notice to Superintendents of Prisons

: The Madras High Court Bench has issued notice to the Superintendents of Prisons in Tamil Nadu on the conditions of convicts suffering from mental disorders and psychological problems.
Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice N Paul Vasantha Kumar while ordering notice, asked them to file a report within two weeks.
Petitioner N Muthukumar, Deputy General Secretary of Tamil Puligal contended he was lodged in Central Prison here for participating in an agitation on Jun 13. He noticed that some prisoners, lodged in a particular Block behaved abnormally and learnt it was where prisoners of unsound mind were lodged.

He said a total of 22 prisoners were suffering from various psychological disorders. Every day, prison officials provide tablets to these inmates but no proper mental health treatment was given, citing lack of infrastructure.
Only prisoners in an advanced stage of mental illness were referred for treatment outside. At times neurologists and psychiatrists visited them in their cells.
Petitioner's counsel submitted the Prisoner Act 1900 and the Mental Health Act 1987 clearly spelt how such prisoners should be treated, but these were 'grossly violated' by the prison authorities. Similar conditions prevailed in other prisons also, he said
Hence he prayed for a direction to ensure proper treatment to the mentally ill inmates.