Delhi District Court
Smt. Shakuntla vs State on 1 August, 2016
IN THE COURT OF AJAY GOEL, ADJ-1 (NORTH), ROHINI
COURTS, DELHI.
MHA-04/16
In the Matter of:
Smt. Shakuntla
W/o Late Sh. Rajinder Singh
R/o H. No. 323, Siraspur,
Delhi-110042. ......Petitioner.
VERSUS
State
Through Collector
Alipur, Delhi. .....Respondent.
Date of Institution: 01.10.2015
Date of Arguments: 01.08.2016
Date of Decision: 01.08.2016
JUDGMENT
1. Vide this judgment, I shall decide the petition filed by the petitioner under Section 52, 53 and 54 of the Mental Health Act' 1987 for the appointment of guardianship of mentally ill person Mr. Dharmender. The brief facts of the case are that petitioner is the mother of Mr. Dharmender who is mentally and physically handicapped person suffering with "Moderate Mental Retardation" since his birth and his degree of disability is assessed as 75% by the Medical Board of Doctors of IHBAS. It was pleaded that Mr. Dharmender is not capable to do anything or earn his livelihood of MHA-04/16 Page No. 1/5 her own and will not be able to do any of his work of his own in near future due to his mental and physical functional disability. It was stated that MCD has a pension scheme for mentally and physically handicapped person and department required that the mentally ill person should be represented by some guardian appointed by the Court. It was stated that entire responsibility of looking after the mentally physically ill Mr. Dharmender and his property is upon the petitioner and nobody else except the petitioner is the best person to look after the interest of Mr. Dharmender and she has no interest adverse to that of said Mr. Dharmender. It was accordingly prayed that petitioner be appointed as guardian of the ill person Mr. Dharmender for all purposes in respect of applying the pension scheme of MCD in the interest of justice.
2. Upon filing of petition, the notice was issued to parties and citation and publication was also ordered to be effected.
3. Thereafter, all the sisters and brother of mentally ill person appeared before the court and made statement thereby giving no objection in the present matter in favour of petitioner.
4. Thereafter, matter was posted for statement of petitioner and doctor.
5. Petitioner was examined as PW1 who relied upon copy of her election I-Card which was Ex. PW-1/1, the copy of death certificate of her husband namely Rajender was Ex. PW-1/2, copy of disability certificate of mentally ill person issued by IHBAS was Ex. PW-1/3, Concession Certificate of mentally ill person was Ex. PW-1/4 and copy of election I-Card of Dharmender was Ex. PW-1/5.
6. Since medical record of mentally ill person was produced by PW-1, MHA-04/16 Page No. 2/5 hence statement of doctor was not recorded.
7. I have heard the arguments on behalf of the petitioner as well as perused the record.
8. The present petition is for the appointment of petitioner as guardian of the mentally ill person Mr. Dharmender, who is son of petitioner. From the perusal of record, it is clear that entire responsibility of looking after the mentally physically ill Mr. Dharmender and his property is upon the petitioner and nobody else except the petitioner is the best person to look after the interest of Mr. Dharmender and she has no interest adverse to that of said Mr. Dharmender. The medical certificate regarding disability of Sh. Dharmender has been placed and proved on record as per law. It has been argued that Mr. Dharmender who is mentally and physically handicapped person suffering with "Moderate Mental Retardation" since his birth and his degree of disability is assessed as 75% by the Medical Board of Doctors of IHBAS. The said suffering i.e. "Moderate Mental Retardation"and degree to the extent of 75% is well-depicted in the disability certificate Ex. PW-1/3.
9. It is also worthwhile to mention here that other sisters and brother of mentally ill person have made statement in the court and have given no objection for appointment of petitioner as guardian of mentally ill person.
10. No other person has come to the court after publication in newspaper raising any objection to the present petition.
MHA-04/16 Page No. 3/511. Sub-section (2) of Section 50 requires the alleged mentally ill person to attend at the place and time specified in the notice for being examined by the District Court or by other person from whom the District Court may call for a report concerning the mentally ill person. The preliminary stage is to examine the mentally ill person and jurisdiction to exercise power under the act. The preliminary stage is meant to prevent abuse of the legal process and safeguard the interests of the alleged mentally ill person including his/her reputation and social prestige. Inquisition proceedings is for the purpose of ascertaining whether such person is of unsound mind and incapable of managing himself and his affairs. The capacity of a person to manage himself and his affairs may very from person to person, but the total incapacity which alone different from the inadequate ability of a person to look after himself and his affairs according to accepted norms and standards.
12. Petitioner has been able to prove the disability of mentally ill person namely Sh. Dharmender by proving the disability certificate issued by Medical Board of IHBAS Ex. PW-1/3, wherein the board has opined that patient Dharmender is suffering from Moderate Medical Retardation. In view of the certificate filed by IHBAS, it can be said that mentally ill person is a case of moderate medical retardation is not in a capacity to manage himself and his day to day affairs.
13. Relief: In view of the above observation, the present petition stands allowed. The petitioner Smt. Shakuntla is hereby appointed as MHA-04/16 Page No. 4/5 guardian of mentally ill person Sh. Dharmender for all intent and purposes. Necessary certificate be issued in this regard on furnishing necessary bond / undertaking and surety to the satisfaction of the court. With the abovesaid observation, present petition stands disposed of accordingly. File be consigned to record Room.
Announced in the open court on (AJAY GOEL)
01.08.2016 ADJ-1(North)/Rohini/Delhi.
MHA-04/16 Page No. 5/5