In the case about rehabilitating mentally-ill patients in government homes who have been cured, the Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar on May 8 presented a number of suggestions as asked for by the Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justices DY Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul.

The counsel for petitioner Gaurav Kumar Bansal said he needed time to study the suggestions and hence the court adjourned the case to the second week of July.

The original PIL sought the release of over 70 patients (including 65 female patients), who were absolutely normal and fit for discharge but living in pathetic conditions with mentally ill persons in the Mental and Health Hospital, District Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, etc.

The court issued notice to the state of UP, to all states and Union Territories as also the central government to assist the court in finalizing norms to be adopted in the entire country in such cases in different mental nursing homes.

At the last hearing, the court had requested the help of the Solicitor General in finding a solution.

—India Legal Bureau