Follow TNM’s WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
The Kerala High Court has pulled up the state government for failing to act on its earlier directions to improve conditions at three government-run mental health centres, with the court describing one of the facilities as a “horror place” and raising concerns over the secrecy surrounding the institutions.
The Division Bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and Basant Balaji, which had personally visited the mental health centres in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Kozhikode, said on Tuesday, September 1, that the reports submitted by the government on measures taken to address the deficiencies were incomplete.
The court noted that its visit to the first centre had taken place more than a month earlier, but it had not seen any significant improvement on the ground.
“Our earlier orders seem to be still not complied. This is an abject shame if true!” the court observed, according to a LiveLaw report.
The bench said the conditions it witnessed during its inspections were so disturbing that it had initially refrained from making stronger observations, expecting the government to take corrective measures within a reasonable period.
The court also questioned the secrecy surrounding the centres and said the lack of outside scrutiny had resulted in neither transparency nor accountability.
“No one knows what is happening there, not even the press… No transparency, no accountability, nothing. Worse than jail,” the bench orally observed.
The amicus curiae suggested that the three centres be subjected to a social audit and that members of the press be given restricted or supervised access. The bench said it would consider the proposal, observing that the secrecy surrounding the centres had not provided any tangible benefit to the patients or others there.
“There is a suggestion in the Bar by the learned amici curiae that there should be a social audit of the centres with even personnel of the press being given restricted or supervised access,” the court recorded in its order.
The judges also indicated that eminent persons could be involved in the proposed social audit and that the media could be allowed to see the conditions inside the facilities.
“We will have a social audit by most eminent people we can choose. We will send the press also in. Let them also see what is happening. Let there not be secrecy,” the judges said.
The bench questioned whether concerns over privacy were being used to prevent necessary scrutiny of the institutions.
“Privacy is being misused and being abused,” it observed, suggesting that the secrecy around the centres could be one reason its earlier directions had not resulted in adequate changes.
The judges were particularly critical of the conditions in which patients were being housed.
“The so-called, I don't want to use that name – Mental Health Centre. It is not a Health Centre. It is a horror place,” the bench said.
The court said the conditions raised serious human rights concerns and that the state could not delay corrective action.
“The manner of violation of human rights – perhaps unintended and unwitting – is so rampant that no State can lose even a second to address it. However, this is not seen done!” the court said.
“Every human right is violated in that system,” the bench further observed, while acknowledging the efforts of doctors and nurses working at the centres.
The judges said that as a constitutional court, they could not ignore alleged violations of the rights of people housed in state-run institutions.
“As a constitutional court, we cannot subscribe to this violation of human rights,” the bench said.
The court also questioned the government’s response to the judicial inspection and said it should be transparent if financial constraints were preventing it from carrying out the required improvements.
“If the State cannot do it, they should tell us we cannot do it, we have no money,” the bench said.
The matter has been posted for Thursday, September 3. The Advocate General has been asked to appear before the court and address the government’s response.