Court extends Sharad Pawar attacker's stay at mental hospital

NEW DELHI: The youth, who had slapped Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, was today ordered by a Delhi court to stay at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) till December 12 for additional tests to ascertain his mental health.

Extending the hospital stay of Harvinder Singh, who was admitted at IHBAS for medical tests on December 2 as per a court's directive, Metropolitan Magistrate Jasjeet Kaur asked the institute's medical superintendent to authorise a doctor to produce Singh's medical report personally before her.

The court ordered Singh's additional tests after going through a preliminary report which the institute had submitted to it as per its November 30 order in response to a plea by Singh's counsel that he was suffering from mental illness.

The court adjourned the hearing on Singh's bail plea for the time being and he will be produced in court on December 9, when his judicial custody expires.

Seeking bail for Singh, his counsel said his client is undergoing psychiatric treatment for four years and as per a Supreme Court order, a mentally sick person cannot be held guilty even for killing someone.

"It is only a petty offence of slapping a person by a mentally sick man and the Supreme Court order says a mentally sick person cannot be convicted even if he kills someone," Singh's counsel R S Dhaka said.