Observing that the State government has the obligation to examine prisoners for mental health conditions, the High Court of Karnataka on Thursday directed the government to immediately conduct psychological assessment of all prisoners lodged in central, district and sub-jails in the State, to identify those with mental illness and to give proper treatment.
As far as new prisoners are concerned, the court said the government would have to subject them to psychological assessment on their entry to prison, while pointing out that the State has the duty to provide proper treatment for mentally-ill prisoners under provisions of the Mental Health Care Act, 2017.
It is not possible for the State to identify mentally-ill prisoners for providing necessary treatment for them unless the exercise of psychological assessment of prisoners is undertaken, the court said.
PIL petitions
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice H.T. Narendra Prasad passed the order while issuing a series of directions on the PIL petitions, initiated by the high court on the apex court’s directions.
The petitions were on the issues of unnatural death of prisoners, overcrowded prisons and medical and other facilities available for prisoners in the State.
The State has also been asked to utilise mental health experts from establishments outside the government for conducting mental health screening/assessment as the Prison Department has only one clinical psychiatrist for the entire State.
One clinical psychiatrist
Expressing concern over the availability of only one clinical psychiatrist with another post of psychiatric social worker remaining vacant, the Bench directed the State to consider within a month the proposals sent in December 2016 by the prison authorities for creating 33 posts of psychiatric social workers, 40 posts of medical officers and 98 posts of paramedical staff for prisons.
As prison authorities claimed that only 27 prisoners were treated at mental health institutions outside the prisons and 562 were treated in prison hospitals as on July 2, 2019, the Bench asked the authorities to furnish the names of doctors who treated the 562 inmates.
Also, the Bench directed the State to take steps to establish mental health wards on priority in central and district prisons.
While observing that suicide by a prisoner also be considered as unnatural death and compensation to be paid to the kin as per the apex court’s direction, the Bench said the High Court will decide the quantum of ad hoc compensation to be paid in such cases and not the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
The government had claimed that compensation cannot be paid in case of suicide by prisoners.
The government had paid compensation, as per recommendation of SHRC, to kin of only two prisoners who died unnaturally since 2012 while 48 prisoners had died unnaturally in the State between 2012 and 2017.
