ORDER :

1. The Registry earlier had raised a maintainability issue with regard to the maintainability of the present petition which has been filed seeking to appoint the petitioner as a legal guardian for a mentally retarded person. The maintainability issue was raised by the Registry by relying upon a judgment of this Court in the case of G. Nithyanandam vs. Tmt. D. Saritha and Others, 2013 (3) LW 412, wherein, an application filed for appointment of a legal guardian for a mentally retarded person was heard. In the said decision, the learned Single Judge had directed the petitioner to approach the District Collector under Section 14 of the National Trust for Welfare of persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999. Earlier there was the Mental Health Act, 1987 and under the said Act, Section 53 enabled a person to get himself appointed as guardian for a mentally ill person by approaching the concerned District Court. However, the Mental Health Act, 1987 got repealed in the year 2017 and it was replaced by a new enactment by name “Th