{"id":47952,"date":"2018-05-06T10:56:11","date_gmt":"2018-05-06T05:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/?p=47952"},"modified":"2018-05-06T11:01:18","modified_gmt":"2018-05-06T05:31:18","slug":"illegal-detention-for-a-more-caring-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indialegallive.com\/viewpoint\/illegal-detention-for-a-more-caring-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Illegal Detention: For a More Caring World…"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Delhi High Court judgment ushers in a new dawn for millions of Indians living with mental illness<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n ~By Prof Upendra Baxi<\/strong><\/p>\n Big events make news, evoke media comment and public concern. The Supreme Court has evoked national concern ever since January 12, 2018, when its four seniormost justices not only released a letter they had written to the chief justice of India (CJI) concerning the ways the roster and collegium systems were working or not allowed to work properly but also appealed to the nation and history to rectify the current unhappy state. Then followed letters to the CJI by two of the four justices and the motion for his removal was proposed by seven political parties. This was not accepted by the vice-chairman of the Rajya Sabha because no prima facie<\/em> case for \u201cproven misconduct\u201d was made out. The latest act was the Union law minister\u2019s letter raising several difficulties regarding the elevation to the Supreme Court of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph. The Supreme Court has now deferred the decision but the final resolution is expected soon.<\/p>\n The political executive has grudgingly tolerated an independent judiciary since Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru\u2019s times and also engaged simultaneously in considerable political warfare over judicial appointments. The present regime, after the National Judicial Commission constitutional amendment and the Act were voided, has struggled to retain some delaying and veto powers over the collegium\u2019s decisions. This needless and unseemly institutional confrontation can be avoided; Parliament has plenary powers to enact a new law which would preserve the primacy of the five seniormost justices of the Supreme Court. A new law can, of course, be challenged but the SCI has left intact the plenary amendatory powers of Parliament.<\/p>\n JUSTICE FOR THE COMMON MAN<\/strong><\/p>\n However, everyday justicing will not let the big events eclipse the rights of Indian citizens. That was the simple and direct message of Justices S Murlidhar and I Mehta when approached for the release of 71-year-old Ram Kumar who was illegally detained in the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS).<\/p>\n Ram Kumar was \u201cunbeknownst to his family, taken away to IHBAS for observation for two days\u201d and his \u201cunlawful detention\u201d was continued by orders issued on November 5 and 20, 2017, by the Metropolitan Magistrate at Rohini. His only fault was to express anger by shouting and even creating a \u201cruckus\u201d at the law\u2019s delays (he was a petitioner-in-person). He was kept under \u201cobservation\u201d at IHBAS, though not found to be maniac depressive or in any way mentally unsound. While the Delhi High Court<\/a> reproached him for suffering a \u201clitigation neurosis\u201d, it did not concede any mental illness. It ordered his release on November 25, 2017, but on April 26, 2018, gave a seven-part detailed constitutional judgment.<\/p>\n