Written by: Krishnadas Rajagopal
2 min readNew DelhiApr 21, 2009 11:48 PM IST
First published on: Apr 21, 2009 at 11:48 PM IST
The Delhi High Court has eased norms for opening a bank account for special children suffering from autism,cerebral palsy and other multiple mental disabilities with their guardians.
The court has directed the Reserve Bank of India RBI to issue appropriate guidelines under the Banking Regulation Act and RBI Act to banks across the country to accept guardianship certificates issued under the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism,Cerebral Palsy,Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act,1999. Commonly called the ‘Mental Disabilities Act’,it is a relatively litigant-friendly law,cutting short a circuitous route taken by parents and relatives of mentally-disabled children to prove their legal guardianship.
Earlier,they had to approach district courts for appointment as legal guardians under the Mental Health Act,1987,which did not recognise disabilities like autism,cerebral palsy and other multiple disabilities,and the cases often dragged on for years in the courts.
The 1999 law changed this by formally recognising these multiple disabilities and by setting up local-level committees under District Magistrates to hear petitions and also by introducing speedy disposal of petitions seeking appointment as legal guardians.
“This court cannot ignore that it is not always possible for persons with disabilities or their guardians to seek recourse to court proceedings,” Justice Ravindra S Bhat observed in his recent judgment which may act as a national precedent to further empower the goals of the 1999 law.
The order came in course of hearing of a writ petition filed by one Sushma Sharma who had approached the State Bank of India in May 2007 to open a joint account with her Kuldeep,21,diagnosed with 90 per cent mental disability by Safdarjung Hospital. The bank did not entertain her request despite her having a guardianship certificate from the local level committee under the Mental Disabilities Act.
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