100. Duties of police officers in respect of persons with mental illness.—(1) Every officer
in-charge of a police station shall have a duty—
(a) to take under protection any person found wandering at large within the limits of the police
station whom the officer has reason to believe has mental illness and is incapable of taking care of
himself; or
(b) to take under protection any person within the limits of the police station whom the officer has
reason to believe to be a risk to himself or others by reason of mental illness.
(2) The officer in-charge of a police station shall inform the person who has been taken into
protection under sub-section (1), the grounds for taking him into such protection or his nominated
representative, if in the opinion of the officer such person has difficulty in understanding those grounds.
(3) Every person taken into protection under sub-section (1) shall be taken to the nearest public
health establishment as soon as possible but not later than twenty-four hours from the time of being
taken into protection, for assessment of the person's healthcare needs.
(4) No person taken into protection under sub-section (1) shall be detained in the police lock up or
prison in any circumstances.
(5) The medical officer in-charge of the public health establishment shall be responsible for
arranging the assessment of the person and the needs of the person with mental illness will be addressed
as per other provisions of this Act as applicable in the particular circumstances.
(6) The medical officer or mental health professional in-charge of the public mental health
establishment if on assessment of the person finds that such person does not have a mental illness of a
nature or degree requiring admission to the mental health establishment, he shall inform his assessment
to the police officer who had taken the person into protection and the police officer shall take the person
to the person's residence or in case of homeless persons, to a Government establishment for homeless
persons.
(7) In case of a person with mental illness who is homeless or found wandering in the community, a
First Information Report of a missing person shall be lodged at the concerned police station and the
station house officer shall have a duty to trace the family of such person and inform the family about the
whereabouts of the person.
101. Report to Magistrate of person with mental illness in private residence who is ill-treated
or neglected.—(1) Every officer in-charge of a police station, who has reason to believe that any person
residing within the limits of the police station has a mental illness and is being ill-treated or neglected,
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shall forthwith report the fact to the Magistrate within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the person
with mental illness resides.
(2) Any person who has reason to believe that a person has mental illness and is being ill-treated or
neglected by any person having responsibility for care of such person, shall report the fact to the police
officer in-charge of the police station within whose jurisdiction the person with mental illness resides.
(3) If the Magistrate has reason to believe based on the report of a police officer or otherwise, that
any person with mental illness within the local limits of his jurisdiction is being ill-treated or neglected,
the Magistrate may cause the person with mental illness to be produced before him and pass an order in
accordance with the provisions of section 102.
102. Conveying or admitting person with mental illness to mental health establishment by
Magistrate.—(1) When any person with mental illness or who may have a mental illness appears or is
brought before a Magistrate, the Magistrate may, order in writing—
(a) that the person is conveyed to a public mental health establishment for assessment and
treatment, if necessary and the mental health establishment shall deal with such person in accordance
with the provisions of the Act; or
(b) to authorise the admission of the person with mental illness in a mental health establishment
for such period not exceeding ten days to enable the medical officer or mental health professional in
charge of the mental health establishment to carry out an assessment of the person and to plan for
necessary treatment, if any.
(2) On completion of the period of assessment referred to in sub-section (1), the medical officer or
mental health professional in charge of the mental health establishment shall submit a report to the
Magistrate and the person shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
103. Prisoners with mental illness.—(1) An order under section 30 of the Prisoners Act, 1900
(3 of 1900) or under section 144 of the Air Force Act, 1950 (45 of 1950), or under section 145 of the
Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), or under section 143 or section 144 of the Navy Act, 1957 (62 of 1957),
or under section 330 or section 335 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), directing the
admission of a prisoner with mental illness into any suitable mental health establishment, shall be
sufficient authority for the admission of such person in such establishment to which such person may be
lawfully transferred for care and treatment therein:
Provided that transfer of a prisoner with mental illness to the psychiatric ward in the medical wing of
the prison shall be sufficient to meet the requirements under this section:
Provided further that where there is no provision for a psychiatric ward in the medical wing, the
prisoner may be transferred to a mental health establishment with prior permission of the Board.
(2) The method, modalities and procedure by which the transfer of a prisoner under this section is to
be effected shall be such as may be prescribed.
(3) The medical officer of a prison or jail shall send a quarterly report to the concerned Board
certifying therein that there are no prisoners with mental illness in the prison or jail.
(4) The Board may visit the prison or jail and ask the medical officer as to why the prisoner with
mental illness, if any, has been kept in the prison or jail and not transferred for treatment to a mental
health establishment.
(5) The medical officer in-charge of a mental health establishment wherein any person referred to in
sub-section (1) is detained, shall once in every six months, make a special report regarding the mental
and physical condition of such person to the authority under whose order such person is detained.
(6) The appropriate Government shall setup mental health establishment in the medical wing of at
least one prison in each State and Union territory and prisoners with mental illness may ordinarily be
referred to and cared for in the said mental health establishment.
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(7) The mental health establishment setup under sub-section (5) shall be registered under this Act
with the Central or State Mental Health Authority, as the case may be, and shall conform to such
standards and procedures as may be prescribed.
104. Persons in custodial institutions.—(1) If it appears to the person in-charge of a State run
custodial institution (including beggars homes, orphanages, women's protection homes and children
homes) that any resident of the institution has, or is likely to have, a mental illness, then, he shall take
such resident of the institution to the nearest mental health establishment run or funded by the
appropriate Government for assessment and treatment, as necessary.
(2) The medical officer in-charge of a mental health establishment shall be responsible for
assessment of the person with mental illness, and the treatment required by such persons shall be
decided in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
105. Question of mental illness in judicial process.—If during any judicial process before any
competent court, proof of mental illness is produced and is challenged by the other party, the court shall
refer the same for further scrutiny to the concerned Board and the Board shall, after examination of the
person alleged to have a mental illness either by itself or through a committee of experts, submit its
opinion to the court.