Madras High Court judge, Justice G.R. Swaminathan along with his wife, visited the home of a bedridden litigant’s father to personally assess his mental state, ensuring fair evaluation amid claims of unsoundness raised during the legal proceedings.
In a remarkable gesture, Justice G.R. Swaminathan of the Madras High Court, accompanied by his wife Kamakshi, a special educator, visited the home of an 83-year-old bed-ridden man to evaluate claims regarding his mental health made by his elder son.
The judge opted to visit the man’s residence in Kodambakkam, Chennai, considering that bringing him to court would cause significant physical distress. The elderly gentleman had suffered a stroke in 2021, which left him unable to speak and reliant on tube feeding.
Justice Swaminathan brought his wife along due to her expertise in working with individuals with mental health issues. This visit was part of a case filed by Sivakumar Chellathurai in 2023, seeking to be appointed as the manager of his father P.K.M. Durai’s properties and to be allowed to sell them.
The petition was submitted under Clause 17 of the Letters Patent, which grants the High Court parens patriae jurisdiction concerning “minors, lunatics and idiots.”
The judge noted that while such terms are outdated, they still appear in legal texts.
During the visit, the judge discovered that the litigant had also submitted a request for his mother Kousalya Devi and younger brother C. Sabari Kumar to take their father for medical follow-ups. The applicant claimed his father was mentally ill.
To determine the truth of this assertion, Justice Swaminathan’s wife wrote “hospital” and “home” on a piece of paper and asked Mr. Durai to indicate his preference. Initially, the elderly man touched “hospital.”
However, upon inquiry from the judge about being moved to a hospital, Mr. Durai began to cry. Ms. Kamakshi then wrote “home” and “hospital” again, and this time, Mr. Durai pointed to “home,” indicating through gestures that he felt comfortable there.
Justice Swaminathan concluded,
“Due to his physical condition, he was drooling. Whenever he drooled, he took his handkerchief with the help of his left hand and wiped the saliva. Whenever he cried, he also used handkerchief to wipe his tears. From all this, I could come to a clear and categorical conclusion that Thiru. P.K.M. Durai was suffering only from serious physical debilities. But his mental condition was rather good. By no stretch of imagination can Thiru. P.K.M. Durai be called as a lunatic-cum-idiot,”
After a thorough discussion with the applicant’s mother and younger brother, the judge noted that they did not oppose the elder son visiting his father.
He expressed,
“I am of the clear view that what Thiru. P.K.M. Durai requires now is loving care. If he is shifted to hospital, he would definitely suffer from loneliness. He may be confined in ICU. If he is at home, he will be surrounded by his immediate family members. He will have the company of his grandchildren. The interests of Thiru. P.K.M. Durai are paramount and I am more satisfied that there is no merit in the application.”
Despite finding that the elder son’s primary case was not maintainable, the judge chose not to dismiss it, citing the absence of a senior counsel representing the litigants.
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