CIVIL LIBERTIES measures had been taken along the lines proposed by the Commission. The other States and Union Territories are being encouraged to take similar action. F] Systemic Reforms: Prisons 1) Mentally III Persons in Prisons 3.53 The Commission has. since September 1996, been urging the Governments of all States/Union Territories to respect the provisions of the Mental Health Act, 1987, which prohibits the lodging of the non-crimineil persons, who are mentally ill, in prisons. These instructions were reiterated by the Chairperson of the Commission in letters addressed to the Chief Ministers/Administrators of all States/Union Territories on 7 February 2000. Further, the Custodial Justice Cell of the Commission has been engaged in an effort to gather precise information on the number and condition of mentally ill persons in jails all over India. The Commission has been shocked to find that, in clear violation of the provisions of the Mental Health Act, mentally ill patients were still being lodged in prisons in Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Kamataka, Manipur, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Delhi. The situation was the worst in West Bengal, where 112 mentally ill persons, who were not criminals, were incarcerated in Alipore Special Jail. The Commission directed that they be transferred to an appropriate hospital for the mentally ill. Tamil Nadu and Manipur have complied with the directions of the Commission and transferred non-criminal persons, who were mentally ill. from prisons to appropriate hospitals. 2) Medical Examination of Prisoners on Admission to Jail 3.54 Alarmed by the large number of deaths in prisons attributed to tuberculosis and other contagious diseases, the Commission has considered it essential to remind State/Union Territory Governments that they have a mandatory obligation to ensure that every prisoner is medically examined on admission and that those suffering from any disease are provided proper treatment. The Commission has, further, introduced a system of obtaining reports from the Inspectors General of Prisons every sue months with a view to ensuring that the Conunission's instructions are being complied with. L ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001 j 27