In a significant verdict, the Madras High Court has held that the mentally challenged are entitled to medical assessment at the place of their residence for the purpose of issuance of disability certificates and that they need not be forced to undergo the ordeal of being produced in person before the Institute of Mental Health.
Justice G.R. Swaminathan wrote: “Inverting the old phrase, I must observe that if Mohammed will not come to the mountain, the mountain must go to Mohammed.” He suggested the government could consider exempting persons with other disabilities too from appearing in person for medical assessment at government hospitals.
“When community certificates are received at doorstep, can the State not apply the same model in the case of persons with disability also? The bureaucracy of the Indian State is described as its steel frame. It must be malleable enough to reach out and address the needs of the last person,” the judge observed.
