Mental Health and Criminal Justice in India: Bridging the Gap Between Law and Care

In India many mental health patients receive law enforcement punishment instead of treatment in the criminal justice system. This study examines how existing legal and administrative problems increase the exclusion of mentally ill persons from Indian criminal justice processes. Our research examines why Indian laws and policies do not support the mental health requirements of accused people and imprisoned individuals while suggesting necessary improvements. This research aims to assess how well the Mental Healthcare Act of 2017 and the Indian Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure help people with mental health issues plus suggests major changes. Our research shows that even though new rules exist mental health support in detention facilities remains broken because different agencies do not work well together. Plus prisons lack enough mental health experts and courts do not pay enough attention to mental health problems in their sentencing decisions. The study identifies major problems in current law enforcement and healthcare services because mental health evaluations are optional during criminal proceedings and almost no individuals are transferred to healthcare facilities. Law enforcement and judiciary staff should learn mental health basics while courts that focus on mental health need support and prisons and forensic mental health facilities require better setup. Our study supports the idea of running human services rather than jail programs to help offenders and make the justice system follow India's legal requirements and global rights protections.