The Army authorities cannot commit a person to a mental hospital without following the procedure prescribed under Section 145 of the Army Act.

( 1 ) THESE two writ petitions are inter-linked : the relief claimed in both is one and the same viz. , for production of the alleged detenu - Captain (Mrs.) Latha Sharma - and her two infant children - Vaman and Pavan - aged 3 and 12 years respectively from the custody of Army authorities and to set them liberty, Because of the commonality of facts and law, we think it proper to dispose of both the writ petition by this common judgment.

( 2 ) W. P. No. 13366 of 1993 was filed by Dr. P. C. Kakar, husband of the alleged detenu - Captain (Mrs) Latha Sharma and W. P. No. 14776 of 1993 by Dr. P. C. Kakar and the detenu, Captain Latha Sharma. In the first writ petition two learned advocates - M/s. S. R. Sanku and N. N. Guru Gopal filed vakalat but during the pendency of the writ petition, they withdrew from the case. The latter writ petition was filed by Dr. P. C. Kakar as party-in-person. It is not necessary to go into the controversy as to the circumstances under which the two learned counsel withdrew from the case.

( 3 ) WHEN the matter came up for hearing before us, we thought that the assistance of a counsel is very necessary in order to effectively adjudicate the questions involved. We requested Sri K. G. Kannabhiran, senior counsel, to assist the court as amicus curiae and he readily responded to our request and argued the case exhaustively. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance rendered by Sri K. G. Kannabhiran.

( 4 ) THE detenu-Smt. Latha Sharma is a Military Nurse holding the rank of "captain". It was alleged in W. P. No. 13366 of 1993 filed on 7-9-1993 that on 1-9-1993 at about 10. 30 a. m. , Captain Latha Sharma was illegally locked up in M. I. Room of Artillery Centre and was beaten up and kicked in the abdomen by three Army Officers - Col. P. C. Reddy, Col. Babu and Lt. Col. Ali - as a result of which, she developed bleeding P. V. (per vagina) and she was admitted in the Gandhi Hospital, Secunderabad. She, along with her two infant children, was kept under police and military guard without allowing her husband - Dr. P. C. Kakar - to see them. A further allegation is that attempts were being made to administer, forcibly, harmful narcotic drugs to Captain Latha Sharma in order to damage her health and to attribute mental imbalance to her with a view to discharging her from military service. Incidentally, it was also averred in the affidavit that the Army personnel raided the official quarter of Captain Latha Sharma, ransacked the house and assaulted Dr. P. C. Kakar, her husband.

( 5 ) IN W. P. No. 14776 of 1993, the allegations are to the effect that Captain Latha Sharma and her two infant children were detained illegally at the Southern Command Hospital, Pune and that her husband, Dr. P. C. Kakar, received a letter to that effect from the detenu. A further averment in the writ petition is that Dr. Kakar received a telephone message on 27-9-1993 from the hospital doctor that his wife was being mentally tortured, denied proper food and other facilities and all this was aimed at coercing her to withdraw charges she has levelled against the Psychiatrist and the Commandant of the Military Hospital, Pune. The concerned military authorities, the Superintendent of Gandhi Hospital, Secunderabad, the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad and the Superintendent of Police, Ranga Reddy District are shown as respondents.

( 6 ) IN the counter-affidavit filed in W. P. No. 13366 of 1993 by Brig H. K. Sharma, it was averred inter alia, that a learned single Judge of this Court - P. Ramakrishnam Raju, J. , - in W. P. M. P. No. 8530 of 1993 in W. P. No. 6746 of 1993 dated 27/08/1993 directed Captain Latha Sharma to co-operate with the authorities for early completion of the departmental enquiry pending against her and that the Army authorities should provide conveyance on the dates of enquiry and other facilities to her. She was directed to attend the enquiry between 6-9-1993 and 10-9-1993 excluding holidays. The counter-affi