Down's Syndrome patients entitled to guardianship under National Trust Act: Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday held that persons with Down Syndrome are entitled to the protections available under the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 [XXX v The District Collector, Kottayam & ors].

Hence, authorities cannot reject guardianship applications on the ground that the condition is not recognised under the statute, the Court held.

Justice CS Dias made the observation while setting aside an order rejecting a father's application seeking appointment as the legal guardian of his 19-year-old daughter with Down Syndrome and a certified intellectual disability at 55 percent.

The Court found that the Kottayam District Collector had wrongly concluded Down Syndrome to be outside the scope of the National Trust Act despite disability certificates and medical material showing the condition to be associated with intellectual disability.

"In the face of the above statutory provisions, medical literature and disability certificates issued by competent authorities, the conclusion arrived at by the 1st respondent that Down Syndrome does not fall within the purview of the Act seems to be erroneous," the Court said.

The judgement came in a petition filed by a Kottayam resident.

His daughter, who was born in 2004, was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Disability certificates recorded that she had a permanent intellectual disability of 55 percent.

According to the petitioner, his wife left the matrimonial home in December 2024 along with their daughter.

Claiming that his daughter required continuous care, protection and support because of her condition, he approached the district collector seeking appointment as his daughter's legal guardian under the National Trust Act.

However, his application was rejected on the ground that Down Syndrome does not fall within any of the categories of disability recognised under the Act.

Aggrieved by this decision, the petitioner approached the High Court.

The Court examined the provisions of the National Trust Act and noted that the law covered persons suffering from intellectual disabilities.

It referred to the disability assessment guidelines issued under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which recognised intellectual disability as a specified disability and found that, authoritative medical literature consistently identified Down Syndrome as one of the most common genetic causes of intellectual disability.

Thus, pointing at the certificates issued by medical authorities showing the petitioner's daughter of having intellectual disability attributable to Down Syndrome, the Court held that the collector's rejection of the application on the ground that the condition fell outside the scope of the National Trust Act could not be sustained.

It further found that the authority rejected the petitioner's application without following the statutory procedure prescribed to determine whether guardianship is necessary for a person with disability under the National Trust Act and Rules.

"The statutory scheme envisages scrutiny of the application, collection of relevant materials, assessment of the person with a disability, and ascertainment of whether the person in need of care requires a guardian. None of the above mandatory requirements contemplated under the Statute appears to have been complied with by the 1st respondent," the Court noted.

Hence, it held that the decision of the collector suffered from non-application of mind and quashed the same.

It directed the Collector to reconsider of the father's application after hearing all parties, including the daughter and her mother, within a period of three months.

Advocate S Dileep (Kallar) appeared for the father.

Advocate Joseph Chandy appeared for the mother and daughter.

Government pleader KR Ranjith represented the state.

Advocate Sathyasree Priya Easwaran was appointed as the amicus curiae.

[Read Judgment]