P

New Delhi, Sep 14 (UNI) The Punjab and Haryana High Court has accepted all the recommendations of the NHRC for mentally-challenged prisoners, who have been languishing in different jails of the states.

The Commission, in September 2004, had filed an intervention application for impleading it as a party, in the High Court, to assist in the pending Civil Writ Petition in the case of mentally-ill undertrials and victims, who were languishing in jails because of their mental condition.

The matter came up for a hearing before the Court last month.

Following the commission's impleading, the court took note of 12 mentally-challenged persons.

The recommendations include facilities for preliminary treatment of mental disorder in central and district jails, not a single mentally ill person, who has not been accused of committing a crime, should be kept in or sent to prison.

''If an undertrial or a convict-undergoing sentence becomes mentally ill while in prison, the State has an affirmative responsibility to the undertrial or the convict and it must provide adequate medical support.'' ''When a convict has been admitted to a mental hospital for psychiatric care, upon completion of the period of this prison sentence, his status in all records of the prison and hospital should be that of a free person and he should continue to receive treatment as a free person,'' the recommendations said.

Regarding those undertrials, whose trials have been suspended for even a single day due to mental illness, reports should be sent to the relevant District and Session Judges as well as the Magistrate on a quarterly basis.

''As soon as it comes to the notice of the trial court that an undertrial has been diagnosed as mentally ill, the trial court must ask for periodic reports of the progress of the under- trial.'' ''When the trial of a mentally-ill person is suspended for a period longer than 50 per cent of the possible sentence (subject to a maximum of three years) the matter should be reported to the Registrar of the High Court of Punjab&Haryana to be put up to the Chief Justice for information and appropriate action.

The suggestions said the State Government must strengthen legal aid services.

''Given the record of mentally-ill persons not being produced for years before court, preventive legal aid is required to check the abuse of the law and dumping the mentally-ill in prisons.'' UNI NR RL BD1654