Patna HC Flags Human Rights Violation as 26 Cured Mental Patients Remain Stranded in Hospital for Want of Halfway Home Beds
The Patna High Court found that 26 persons cured of mental illness were still confined at BIMHAS due to full halfway homes, calling it a recognised human rights violation under the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, and directed the State to make immediate interim arrangements.
A Division Bench of the Patna High Court, led by Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo and Justice Harish Kumar, took up compliance affidavits on 12 May 2026 in a suo motu proceeding concerning the condition of mentally ill persons in Bihar. The bench found that 26 individuals who had recovered from mental illness at the Bihar State Institute of Mental Health and Allied Sciences (BIMHAS), Koilwar, Bhojpur, could not be discharged because both government halfway homes in Patna were full — one housing 51 persons against a capacity of 50, the other 65 against a capacity of 50.
The court described the situation as “a very sorry state of affairs” and held that keeping a cured patient in a mental hospital even for a single day is a recognised violation of human rights under Section 19 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017. The Advocate General gave an assurance that interim arrangements would be made before the two additional halfway homes, expected to be ready in June 2026 at Koilwar, Bhojpur, are completed.
The Proceedings Before the Court
The matter before the bench is Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 2805 of 2026, taken up by the court on its own motion on the basis of an inspection report, heard together with Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 19702 of 2021 filed by Akanksha Malviya against the Union of India and others. Ms. Anukriti Jaipuriyar and Mr. Raju Patel appeared for the petitioner side in the suo motu case.
The State was represented by Advocate General Mr. P.K. Shahi with other counsel. The Union of India was represented by Senior Advocate Mr. Kumar Priya Ranjan. Dr. K.N. Singh, Senior Advocate, appeared for the respondents in the connected writ.
The 12 May 2026 hearing was a compliance date following the court's earlier orders of 16 March 2026 and 20 April 2026. Senior officials the Principal Secretary of the Health Department, the Director of BIMHAS, the Director General of Police Bihar, the Inspector General of Prisons, and the Additional Director General (Weaker Sections), CID Bihar, were present through virtual mode as directed.
Home Crisis: 26 Cured Persons With Nowhere to Go
On 20 April 2026, the court had been told by the Director of BIMHAS that a letter was sent to the Superintendent of Police, Ara on 11 April 2026 stating that 67 patients had been cured and needed to be transferred to their homes or halfway homes, but no action had been taken. The Additional Director General (Weaker Sections), CID Bihar, acknowledged receipt of the letter and committed to immediate steps.
By 12 May 2026, a supplementary affidavit filed by the Deputy S.P. (SJPU), CID (Weaker Sections), Bihar, on behalf of the Director General of Police, disclosed the following position. The actual list of cured persons was 63, not 67, because of name repetitions.
Of these, 21 persons (13 male, 8 female) had been sent back to their homes. Ten women who were either homeless or whose families refused to accept them were shifted to a halfway home at Aadarsh Vihar Colony, Rajiv Nagar, Patna, run by an NGO called Karpuri Thakur Gramin Vikash Sansthan. Shifting of six more persons was under process. Five additional persons, not on the list of 63, had also been sent home.
That left 26 persons 22 unverified and homeless, and 4 whose families had refused to take them back still at BIMHAS with no place to go. The CEO of the State Society for Ultra Poor and Welfare (Saksham), Bihar, reported that the two existing halfway homes in Patna had no vacant beds.
Two additional halfway homes at Koilwar, Bhojpur were under construction and likely to be ready in June 2026. The Superintendent of Police, Bhojpur, had already written to the District Magistrate, Bhojpur, requesting arrangements for these 26 persons.
The bench observed that the situation was also creating practical difficulties for new patients who needed admission to BIMHAS. It invoked Section 19 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, which gives individuals cured of mental ailments the right to community living and prohibits their segregation merely because they are homeless, lack family support, or lack community facilities.
The Advocate General assured the court that an interim arrangement would be made for the 26 persons ahead of the June 2026 completion of the new halfway homes.
The bench also directed that, since this was a recurring situation, the concerned authorities should make advance arrangements for halfway homes across the State so that cured patients do not spend even a single day in the mental hospital after recovery.
Mental Health Units in Prisons: Progress Reported
On the prison mental health front, the court acknowledged positive steps. An affidavit filed by Dr. Prashant Sinha, Deputy Director (Health), Home Prison Department, Bihar, had earlier informed the court that Mental Healthcare Units had been established in four jails: Adarsh Central Jail, Beur, Patna; Shahid Khudi Ram Bose Central Jail, Muzaffarpur; Shahid Jubba Sahani Central Jail, Bhagalpur; and Central Jail, Gaya.
The supplementary affidavit filed on 8 May 2026 by the Deputy Director (Health), Home (Prison) Department, on behalf of the Inspector General of Prisons, disclosed that a letter bearing No. 3986 dated 28 April 2026 was written to the Superintendents of ten jails — including Model Central Jail, Beur, Patna; Muzaffarpur; both Bhagalpur jails; Gaya; Motihari; Purnea; Buxar; Bettiah; and Darbhanga, directing compliance on four points: establishment of a dedicated mental health ward; provision of a library stocked with magazines and newspapers, indoor games (ludo, carrom, chess), outdoor games (cricket, football), painting and drawing materials, television, and music system; display of notice boards at the main gate and OPD; and facilitation of the Tele-Manas programme for treatment of mentally ill prisoners. All Superintendents submitted compliance reports. The department also decided to engage private practitioners for regular treatment of mental patients in addition to the services of the Health Department. The bench expressed “deep satisfaction” at these steps.
The Health Department's affidavit also confirmed that, in compliance with the court's directions and Section 21 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, a 10-bedded Mother and Child Ward had been established at BIMHAS, Koilwar. Rs. 4,80,000 was sanctioned for equipment, a four-member purchase committee was constituted on 29 April 2026, and four persons were posted to the ward. This followed the court's query on 20 April 2026 about a separate cell for female patients with babies under three years of age.
Skill Training for Cured Patients and the Vocational Rehabilitation Gap
The court had, on 20 April 2026, pressed the State on what vocational training was actually being given to cured patients in halfway homes and what financial support was being provided to make them self-sufficient. The bench had observed that a structured rehabilitation process was needed for cured patients to regain independence and return to the mainstream.
The affidavit filed on 8 May 2026 by Satya Narayan Gupta, Deputy Secretary, Health Department, Government of Bihar, disclosed that the Youth Employment and Skill Development Department had submitted a fund requirement of Rs. 18.63 lakh, based on a three-member committee report, for a skill training programme for recovered mental patients.
The Health Department cleared this through its Screening Committee and sanctioned the amount to the Youth Employment and Skill Development Department. A tender was floated for selection of a training agency, with the last date for applications set at 13 May 2026.
The bench noted that once the tender was finalised, expeditious steps should be taken so that cured patients in halfway homes could benefit from skill training and thereafter receive financial support from the government to become self-sufficient. The court also expected the State to take similar steps for all existing and future halfway homes across Bihar.
The Health Department also reported that an SOP under Section 115 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 had been formulated and circulated to all Principals of Medical Colleges and Civil Surgeons across all districts, and would be disseminated through social media and print media. A committee under the Special Secretary, Health Department, examining the establishment of a second Institute of Eminence on the lines of BIMHAS, recommended focusing first on expanding and upgrading BIMHAS before considering a second institute elsewhere in Bihar.
On infrastructure at BIMHAS, the Health Secretary, Kumar Ravi, confirmed that sanction for four schemes — a rest house for attendants, repair and new construction of the boundary wall, a playground, and a park — totalling Rs. 5.33 crores was expected within a week, to be followed by tendering. Rs. 47,12,732 sanctioned for ICU equipment had already been disbursed to BIMHAS, and the Director confirmed that some equipment had been received with the process to be completed at the earliest.
Legal Aid: Mano Nyay Clinic and District Units Now Operational
The Bihar State Legal Services Authority (BSLSA) filed an affidavit through its Assistant Registrar detailing compliance with the court's directions on legal aid for mentally ill persons. The DLSA, Bhojpur, has established a “Mano Nyay Legal Services Clinic” at BIMHAS, staffed with panel lawyers and para-legal volunteers, functioning six days a week, providing free legal aid and advice to patients and their attendants. This addressed the Amicus Curiae's earlier observation about the absence of such a clinic.
BSLSA also constituted Legal Services Units for Persons with Mental Illness and Intellectual Disabilities (LSUM) in all District Legal Services Authorities across Bihar. Each LSUM comprises a retired judicial officer, panel lawyers, a legal aid defence counsel, and para-legal volunteers, headed by the Secretary of the respective DLSA. The Member Secretary, BSLSA, present in court, confirmed that weekly reports were being received from the Secretary, DLSA, Bhojpur, and that the court's orders were being followed. BSLSA stated it was discharging its obligations under Section 27 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 (right to legal aid) and the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, as well as the NALSA (Legal Services to Persons with Mental Illness and Persons with Intellectual Disabilities) Scheme.
School Mental Health Policy: Union of India Files Affidavit
On 20 April 2026, the court had impleaded the Secretary of the Education Department, Government of Bihar, and the Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India, directing affidavits on the mandate of Section 29 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, which deals with promotion of mental health and preventive programmes. The court had referred to the Supreme Court's decision in Sukdeb Saha v State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors., (2025) Supreme Court Cases OnLine SC 1515.
The Union of India filed an affidavit on 11 May 2026. It stated that the Supreme Court's judgment in Sukdeb Saha (SLP (Crl.) No. 6378 of 2024, dated 25 July 2025) was circulated to all States and Union Territories and autonomous bodies. A meeting was convened on 22 October 2025 under the chairmanship of the Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, with all States and UTs, and action points based on the Supreme Court's directions were circulated. The Department of School Education and Literacy is in the process of framing a comprehensive National Mental Health and Well-Being Policy for Schools. Two committees — a National Level Committee and a Sub-committee of subject matter experts, academicians, and educational administrators — have been constituted (constitution orders dated 13 February 2026 and 9 February 2026). A draft policy document prepared by the Sub-committee is under consideration of the National Level Committee. Initiatives already taken include appointment of counsellors, the Manodarpan initiative launched in 2020, and integration of mental health concerns in the National Curriculum Framework for Foundation Stage and for School Education.
Senior Counsel for the Union of India, Mr. Kumar Priya Ranjan, stated that further developments would be placed before the court on the next date. The State of Bihar's affidavit from the Education Department was still awaited, and the Advocate General sought more time for its filing.
Order
The bench listed the matter for 23 June 2026. On that date, the following officials are directed to remain present virtually: the Principal Secretary, Health Department; the Secretary, State Mental Health Authority, Bihar; the Director, BIMHAS; the Director General of Police, Bihar; and the Inspector General of Prisons.
The court placed on record its appreciation for the efforts of both the State authorities and the Union of India in complying with its various directives.