P.D. Dinakaran, J.

This petition has an unpleasant history. We are grieved at the turn of events in this case, viz., making a normal man, a mentally ill person, in order to grab his property fraudulently, by perverting or subverting the provisions of the Mental Health Act, 1987 (for brevity, "the Act") which is enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to treatment and care of mentally ill persons, to make better provision with respect to their property and affairs and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

1. The facts, so far as relevant, leading to the filing of the present petition are as under:

The petitioner, claiming herself as a neighbour of the detenu – Deenadayalan has filed this habeas corpus petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus to direct the respondents to produce Deenadayalan, Son of Balu Reddiar, aged about 54 years, now under illegal custody of the respondents before this Court and set him at liberty. It is alleged that the detenu is kept under the illegal detention, under the guise of a reception order dated 28. 2007 said to have been passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate, Tambaram, exercising the power conferred under Sec