New Delhi, Sep 26 (PTI) The Supreme Court Monday sought responses from the Centre and others to a plea alleging that inmates are being kept in chains at a mental health institution in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district.

A bench of Justices S A Nazeer and V Ramasubramanian issued notices to the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Madhya Pradesh government and others while seeking their replies.

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The top court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal seeking directions to unchain the inmates at the mental health facility near the Hussain Tekri shrine in Ratlam district.

The plea said chaining people with mental illness is prohibited under Section 95 of the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017.

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The apex court had said in 2019 the chaining of mentally ill people cannot be allowed, calling it "atrocious" and "inhuman". http://ptinews.com/images/pti.jpg “We bring the World to you" Disclaimer : This e-mail message may contain proprietary, confidential or legally privileged information for the sole use of the person or entity to whom this message was originally addressed. Please delete this e-mail, if it is not meant for you.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)