JUDGMENT

MOHAN, J.—This writ petition has been preferred by Ms Sheela Barse, a social activist. She has forwarded a copy of the write-up under the title "Jailing the mentally ill". This write-up was published by her.

2. The said write-up narrates the following:

Many children and adults are committed to jail in Calcutta as lunatics. In fact they are not mentally ill at all. Some are normal, some temporarily under stress or undergoing a phase of mental disturbance, and a few are mentally retarded. Once they are jailed, they are all categorised as "Non-criminal Lunatics". This jailing deprives them of their liberty on the pretext that he is interned for treatment. When these persons are produced before the Judicial or the Executive Magistrate of West Bengal an instant assessment is made of their mental health and they are committed to jail without fixing the case, date of hearing or the duration of detention. Thereafter they are never produced before the Magistrate. During their confinement these persons lose all the contacts with the outside world, more often than not the Magistrates purporting to act under Section 13 of the Lunacy Act (which Act has been repealed) arrogating to themse