In yet another instance of a court of law going beyond its remit to don the role of a court of equity and fairness, the Kerala High Court recently paved way for a young drug addict in remission to get admission to a college course of his choice.
A Division Bench of Justices A Muhamed Mustaque and Harisankar V Menon went a step further and also raised ₹91,000 for the tuition fees from the costs imposed on a litigant in another case.
The Court took a strong stance in favour of rehabilitation focused jurisprudence in drug abuse cases and emphasised that the focus must be on reintegrating drug addicts into society rather than penalising them for the addiction.
"They (drug addicts) should feel that the system is there with them,” the Bench remarked.
The Court also mentioned another case where a man raped his own mother while under the influence of drugs. Even in such cases, the focus must be on reform, the Court asserted.
"We must reform them. That is the new modality," Justice Mustaque remarked.
These developments took place when the Court was considering a petition moved by the father of the young addict. The petitioner stated that his son suffered from serious mental illnesses caused by drug abuse and was prescribed anti-psychotic and anti-convulsant medicines for the same. While under treatment, his son was arrayed as an accused in a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act). After two months of treatment at a hospital, the son was arrested by the police. While in custody, he refused to take his medication. Even after he was released on bail, he refused to take his medication.
Under the direction of the Court, the petitioner's son was taken to a Government Mental Health Centre but the facility mandated the presence of a bystander.
The petitioner then moved the Court seeking orders to do away with the bystander condition, stating that the family depends on his income as an autodriver and his wife's income as a house maid.
The Court initially passed an order directing the Mental Health Centre to admit the petitioner's son without insisting upon the presence of a bystander.
However, the Court kept the matter pending until the young man was discharged.
The Court then interacted with him personally and found that he wishes to join a course at the Industrial Training Institute (ITI).
The amicus curiae appointed by the Court, advocate V Ramkumar Nambiar, informed the Court that the Social Welfare Institute at Aluva was willing to give the young man admission.
However, the last date for applying to the course had passed. The Court then suo motu impleaded the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) and the Central government and asked them to consider extending the cut-off date for him.
The authorities obliged and within days, the man was admitted to the college.
The counsel representing the petitioner, advocate John S Ralph, initially paid an advance fee of ₹25,000.
However, the Court insisted that it would pay the entire fee of ₹91,000 from the costs imposed in another case. It, therefore, directed the Kerala State Legal Services Authority to release the entire amount and reimburse the counsel as well.
The Court decided to keep checking in on the young man's progress, directing the amicus curiae to interact with him once every two months.
"We also direct the learned Amicus Curiae to interact with XXXXX once in every two months. We record our appreciation to Sri.V.John Sebastian Ralph, the learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri.V.Ramkumar Nambiar, the learned Amicus Curiae, Smt.O.M.Shalina, the learned Deputy Solicitor General of India, and Sri.K.R.Ranjith, the learned Government Pleader, for the co-operation extended in this matter to rehabilitate XXXXX," the Court's order stated.
The petitioner was represented by advocates John Sebastian Ralph, Vishnu Chandran, Ralph Reti John, Giridhar Krishna Kumar, Geethu TA, Mary Greeshma, Liz Johny and Krishnapriya Sreekumar.