ORDER

The present petition has been filed for appointing Mrs.Jayanthi, the maternal aunt of the petitioner, as the guardian of the petitioner and to permit her to obtain all the benefits, monies belonging to the petitioner through his late father M.Mahendran and to execute deeds of conveyance and other deeds with regard to the properties inherited by the petitioner and to operate his bank accounts

2. The petitioner, Arun Prabhu, is diagnosed with Mild Mental Retardation, and with a social age of 9 years and is incapable of making any decisions and, therefore, ineligible to enter into any contract or agreement. The parents of the petitioner, viz., mother and father of the petitioner breathed their last in the year 2007 and 2019 respectively and the petitioner has no siblings and the paternal and maternal grandparents also died prior to the death of the parents of the petitioner and there are no legal heirs to take care of the petitioner and his properties.

3. It is the further averment in the petition that upon the death of the father of the petitioner, the retirement proceeds could not be realised and the medical expenses of the petitioner arr too high, which requires financial resources and as caretaker, the maternal aunt of the petitioner is taking care of him. In the above backdrop, the petitioner represented by his maternal aunt has come up with the present petition for being recognized as the guardian of the petitioner for the purpose of realising the retirement benefits of the petitioner's father and also for entering into contracts and execution of deeds and operation of bank accounts to utilise the finances for the medical needs and other necessities of the petitioner. It is further averred that with regard to the medical condition of the petitioner, the Regional Medical Board has certified his condition as Mild Mental Retardation, which requires vocational training and that he is solely dependent on his maternal aunt, who, as on date is acting as caretaker. In the aforesaid backdrop, for the continuous treatment of the petitioner, it is just and necessary that his maternal aunt be recognized as the guardian for the person, properties and other financial resources of the petitioner. In this regard, it is the further averment of the petitioner that for transacting all the business aforesaid, since recognition of the maternal aunt of the petitioner as the guardian of the petitioner is necessary, she submitted an application before the 2nd respondent for granting the aforesaid recognition. However, no orders have been passed on the said application till date. In the aforesaid backdrop, the present petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking the relief supra.

4. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that a provision was earlier available for filing a petition under the Guardian and Wards Act before the District Court. However, in the case on hand, the petitioner being a mentally disabled person, no provision is available either under the Mental Health Act, 1987, or under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, for appointment of guardian insofar as persons, who suffer from mental retardation. It is the further submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner is suffering from mental retardation and in the absence of the parents to take care of the mentally disabled petitioner, his rights needs to be safeguarded and the maternal aunt of the petitioner, who is aged about 68 years, has made representation before the 2nd respondent for recognizing her as the guardian to take care of the petitioner and carry out all the monetary transactions with regard to movable and immovable properties, including receipt of monetary benefits of his late father as also execution of deeds and operation of bank accounts, which are required to be carried out for the welfare of the petitioner. Since no orders have been passed by the 2nd respondent on the representation of the petitioner, the present petition