Every person with a mental disability has the right to live with dignity: SC

The Supreme Court, in a judgment delivered last month, noted that under the Mental Health Care Act, 2017, there is a statutory right for mentally ill persons to live with dignity

The bench comprising Justice NV Ramana, Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Justice Indira Banerjee observed that Section 20 (1) of the Mental Health Care Act explicitly provides that 'every person with mental illness shall have a right to live with dignity'.

The court in, Accused X vs the State of Maharashtra, held that post-conviction mental illness will be a mitigating factor while considering appeals of death convicts. It also commuted the death penalty of the accused who was convicted of rape and murder of two minor girls.