New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) A Delhi court has discharged a man accused in a kidnapping case from trial proceedings after medical boards found him unfit to face trial due to schizophrenia, and directed that he continue to stay at a mental healthcare facility for treatment and supervision.
Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental health disorder that disrupts how a person thinks, feels and behaves, often causing a loss of touch with reality (psychosis).
Additional Sessions Judge Hargurvarinder Singh Jaggi, hearing a case against Mahender Singh, took note of the medical assessments by the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), and said he was unable to understand the charges and the consequences of the proceedings or defend himself.
In an order dated October 15, the court said, “This court is fully satisfied that in view of the medical opinion, accused Mahender Singh cannot stand trial and his release/ discharge from active prosecution subject to statutory safeguards is fully justified in law.”
The case dates back to October 13, 2000, when an FIR was registered at Malviya Nagar police station over the alleged abduction of Subhash Chand Batra and his driver Santosh Kumar.
The court noted that Singh had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and moderate depressive episodes. Medical boards that examined him in February and August this year found him unfit to stand trial and said he required continued psychiatric treatment and constant supervision.
Invoking provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) dealing with accused persons of unsound mind who are incapable of making their defence, the court directed that Singh remain at Nav Chetna, a halfway/ long-stay home in Rohini, Delhi, for his care and supervision until further orders.
He was also directed to continue treatment at IHBAS or the nearest designated mental health establishment.
The court declined to release him to his family after it expressed its inability to care for him and ensure his treatment and safety.
It also said the prosecution could seek appropriate legal recourse if Singh regained the mental fitness required to stand trial. PTI SKM SKM KSS
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