Sabareesh Pillay | School of Law, University of Mumbai Thane Sub-Campus | 16th August 2020
Veena Awasthi Vs Union Of India
FACTS:
In this case, in 1982 the free Legal Aid Committee, Hazaribagh sent a letter to Supreme Court Judge- P.N Bhagwati through a writ petition. In the letter, the prisoners having unsound mind who were illegally kept in prisons were asked to be released, as they were being kept in prison illegally and without cause. The court recognized this writ and issued a notice to the state of Bihar. The state said that the prisoners were of unsound mind and that is the reason they were kept in prison. The court recognized the writ petition and their claim that 16 men, who were considered of unsound mind at the time of committing the offence, and despite of their charges being dropped, they were kept in prisons from last 23 to 30 years.
ISSUE:
Is it a violation of article 21 of the Indian Constitution to hold a prisoner in the custody after the prisoner has already served nearly 25 years or more of their lifetime in the jail, and has restored his sanity?
PETITIONER CONTENTION:
The petitioner contended that the prisoners have already spent more than the maximum sentence for no reason at all and that the 16 prisoners should be set free by the court. Further the petitioner contended that the reason these mentally sick prisoners were serving 25 years in prison, even though the maximum prison sentence is of 14 years is due to the shortage of mental institutions for their treatment. And as they could not be sent to the mental institutions they had to be kept in prison which is negligence by the part of the state. The petitioner had asked for building of more mental institutions for the mentally sick.
RESPONDENT CONTENTION:
The respondent, State of Bihar, contended that there is no need to build more mental institutions as the existing ones ( Mansik Arogya Shala, Kanke) which is a institution to treat the mentally sick is enough. And the petitioner’s demand of building more mental institutions is invalid. Further, the respondents said that yearly checkups are provided to each mentally sick prisoner and the reason why the mentally-ill are kept in jail is because they get proper treatment and are kept in safe circumstances. Thus, refuting the allegations made by the petitioners.
COURT OBSERVATION:
The Bench of Justice P.N Bhagwati and Justice D.A. Desai said that they agree with the petitioner that there are not enough existing mental institutions and that mental prisoners should not face the extremes of the prison administration and they should not be kept in jail for their protective custody. Justice Bhagwati said, “It is indeed unfortunate that most of these prisoners have been in jail for 25 years and it is a matter of shame for the society that these prisoners have had to be detained in jail because there are not adequate institutions for treatment of mentally sick.” Further, as the prisoners have been in jail for 25 years already the court asked the state government to drop all the charges against the mental prisoners. There were some prisoners who were rotting in jail even after they had regained sanity. The court directed the state government to free them instantly and dropped all charges against them.
JUDGEMENT:
The court gave the judgement that the most important right of a person is personal liberty and the government can’t tamper it according to them. The court gave directions to the state government to build more mental institutions and free all the mental prisoners who have been in prison for more than 14 years as they have already served more than the maximum sentence and keeping them for more time will be against the laws of the country. For others, the court said that routine checks must be conducted in every 6 months and if they have regained sanity they must also be freed immediately. The Bench ordered the Prisoner administration to send a report to the district judge after their medical checkups are conducted.
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