Mental Healthcare Act

Fill up non-official member posts in mental health body: HC to Delhi govt

The Delhi High Court has directed the city government to take expeditious steps for filling up posts of non-official members of the Delhi Mental Health Authority. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru further said once the authority is constituted, it would take expeditious steps for the constitution of review boards according to the Mental Health Care Act. The bench, also comprising Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, clarified that the process of constituting the authority and the boards shall not be impeded by imposition of the Model Code of Conduct in view of the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. The court passed the order on December 12 while dealing with two petitions seeking the enforcement of provisions of the mental health law, including the constitution of the state mental health authority as well as the district mental health review boards. In its order, the court noted that on November 27, the Delhi government appointed seven ex-officio members for constituting the Delhi

Delhi HC directs GNCTD to swiftly fill posts for Mental Health Authority

The court also instructed that once the Authority is constituted, it should promptly establish the Review Boards as per Sections 73 and 74 of the Mental Health Act

India punishes those who attempt suicide despite Mental Health Act

Early one Sunday morning, Latha (not her real name) and her husband were woken by police at their door demanding she accompany them to the local station. Having just returned from the hospital where she had received emergency treatment for attempting to poison herself, Latha had been relieved and grateful to finally be back home. But following this police harassment and intrusive questioning by her neighbours, a deep sorrow began to envelop her again. Latha's story is sadly very common in India. In 2021, over 164,000 people were reported to have died by suicide in the country, a 7.2 per cent increase in the number of suicides compared to 2020. Attempted suicide was a punishable offence under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code until the passing of the Mental Healthcare Act in 2018, which in effect decriminalised suicide by creating a massive exception to Section 309. Section 115 of the act presumes that a person who has attempted suicide is under severe stress. Instead of punishm

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The mental dynamic

Ms Singh's book makes it clear that India's Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, builds on a long legacy of efforts to advocate for rights-based institutional care

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