Kerala High Court Seeks State's Response On Suggestion To Rename 'Mental Health Centres' To Remove Stigma
K. Salma Jennath
24 Aug 2026 4:50 PM IST
The Kerala High Court on Friday (August 21) sought the State's response to a suggestion to rename 'Mental Health Centres', in order to remove the stigma attached to the words.
The Division Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Basant Balaji passed the order, taking note of the suggestion made by amicus curiae Sathyasree Priya to rename it to 'Institutes of Behavioural Management'.
The Court was considering an ongoing public interest litigation initiated in 1996 following the Apex Court's direction in Sheela Barse v. Union of India. The Bench, however, did not make any suggestion but wanted to get the State's view on the matter. It observed:
"The “Mental Health Centres”, being so called, attract a lot of stigma; and we could see this even when we visited them in the course of the last two weeks or so. We are not suggesting a particular name, though we have recorded the input of the learned Amicus Curiae; but are of the firm view that the Government must look into this issue, particularly when other hospitals are not called Centres of Physical Health; and therefore, one justifiably cannot comprehend why these Centres should have the tag of being “Mental Health” Centres...Since this is a matter of policy, it is for the Government to initiate the first move and inform us."
The interim application filed by the amicus has been posted to September 15 for further consideration and the State's response.
The Court had recently visited the three mental health centres at Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Kozhikode. In another recent order passed on August 18, the Court had remarked that the conditions of these centres and its isolation wards were "horrific", resembling "cages" and "shocking". It had also noted that there was inadequate staff to meet with the needs.
The Court had then asked the Secretary, Health and Social Welfare Department; and Secretary, Social Justice Department, to respond to its observations in the orders passed relating to each of the Centres and to file a comprehensive report independently on them. It had directed that Secretaries to state the remedial measures taken, or proposed to be taken along with time frames required to complete and address the same.
Case No: IA No.25/2026 in WP(C) No.16603 of 2026
Case Title: Case Title: The High Court Legal Aid Committee v. The State of Kerala and Ors.
