Section 84 IPC - The Safeguard for the Mentally Unwell?
constitutional judiciary intermediate late_night_postChalo, yaar, let's talk about the IPC's oldest loophole. Section 84 - "Act of a person of unsound mind" - is supposed to be a safeguard for people with mental health issues. But honestly, it's a joke in practice. The problem is, it's an "irresistible impulse" defence, which is SO subjective. And the court has to decide whether the accused was insane at the time of the crime, based on expert testimony and whatnot. But the real kicker is, the court can just decide that the accused's mental illness was a "mitigating circumstance" and give them a lighter sentence. Problem is, this defence is only available if the accused was "at the time of committing the act" mentally ill - but who decides what's "mental illness"? And what's an "irresistible impulse"?
Main nahi samajh sakta ki hum kyun is section ko safeguard kehta hain. Yeh to ek loophole hai mental health ke issues ke liye, jo ki unke case mein apne defence mein use karti hai. Unke case mein, yeh section unke case ko thoda sa soft karne ke liye use hoti hai, par main samajh sakta hoon ki yeh unki rights ko pahunchata nahi.