House panel wants 'unsound mind', not 'mental illness', in FIRs

Animesh Singh

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New Delhi, November 26

A parliamentary panel has recommended that the term “mental illness” defined in Clause 22 of the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS) should be replaced with the original term “unsound mind”, which is present in Section 84 of the IPC, as it feels that the term “mental illness” is too wide in its import and may appear to include even mood swings or voluntary intoxication.

The term “mental illness”, the panel noted, might weaken the case of the prosecution, as the defence would claim that the crime was committed by a person suffering from mental illness, thus defeating the purpose of the proposed Sanhita.

The argument given by the panel was that an accused under the definition “mental illness” could evade prosecution by simply showing that he or she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of committing the crime and therefore could not be prosecuted even if it was committed without any influence of an intoxicant.

The observations have been made by the standing committee on home affairs in its report on the BNS, which was submitted in both Houses of Parliament recently. The proposed BNS seeks to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860.

The committee observed that in the IPC, the term a person of “unsound mind” carried a restricted interpretation as per judicial precedents and was available as a defence for the accused.