[Mental Healthcare Act 2017] Bombay High Court Asks Govt To Set Up Web Portal & Complaint Redressal System

The Bombay High Court has instructed the Maharashtra State Mental Health Authority and the state government to take necessary measures to effectively address mental health issues. The Authority has reported to the court that it is currently in the process of registering all mental health establishments, professionals, and social workers, and will promote the process through various media channels.

The court has asked that the Authority give priority to the implementation of these measures. This decision was made in response to a petition filed by psychiatrist Dr. Harish Shetty, which sought implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act, of 2017.

Senior advocate J P Sen was appointed as Amicus Curiae by the court to provide assistance. Sen highlighted that the budget head for the statutory funds had not been created yet. The bench acknowledged that the law requires funds to be credited with an adequate corpus and urged the state government to take appropriate measures to ensure this.

The government and the authority have assured the court that they will establish "half-way homes" to temporarily accommodate recovered mental health patients who have been discharged from mental health establishments until they can be reunited with their families.

The Advocate General Birendra Saraf, who represented the Maharashtra government, informed the court that on February 4, an amount of Rs 1 crore was transferred to the Authority Fund as a loan to enable it to complete the registration process and effectively carry out its functions.

The court said that it expects that the government will take appropriate measures to establish a budget head for the statutory fund of the Authority to ensure continued funding.

In addition to the measures already discussed, the bench directed the Authority to take the initiative of creating a separate web portal for the Authority as soon as possible. This will help the Authority to effectively register all establishments and professionals, thus enabling it to carry out its functions more efficiently, court noted.

Case title: Dr. Harish Shetty vs State of Maharashtra & Ors