Upholding the acquittal of a man in a murder case on grounds of his 'insanity', the Bombay high court laid down certain ground rules including prompt medical examination and competent legal aid by courts for such accused, not merely for name sake. "Particular attention should be paid to appoint competent advocates, equal to handling complex cases, not patronising gestures to raw entrants to the Bar," said the HC bench at Aurangabad while dismissing an appeal filed in 2002 by the state against the acquittal of Sheshrao Jadhav a labourer from Beed who was found guilty of murdering his wife in 2001, but acquitted on grounds of insanity. He fell in an exception carved under criminal law for those whose insanity plea is upheld. The defence argued that it has to only succeed in "creating reasonable doubt about mens rea (guilty mind) and he is entitled to an acquittal." In the case before the HC, the father of the accused had produced evidence of his mental health treatment before the case and even after. His trial began only after he received three months of treatment following his arrest. The HC said it was "tempted to hold the accused had failed to discharge his burden" to demonstrate his probable unsoundness of mind that day. The HC did not agree with the reasons given by the trial court in holding him insane since the police had failed to get him medically examined. But in view of Jadhav's "previous and subsequent history" it gave him the benefit of doubt to hold that "he was probably insane" when the crime was committed. The HC held that Jadhav had "committed the murder due to unsoundness of mind and his case fell in the exception under section 84 of Indian Penal Code." The section holds that "nothing is an offence" when done by a person of unsound mind who at the time, is "incapable, of knowing the nature of the act..." Legal aid is at the state's expense and "it should not be for name sake," said a bench of Justice T V Nalawade and AM Dhavale in their December 21, judgment. The trial court should record details and its opinon on legal aid lawyers while appointing them in a case, the bench said. In case an arrested accused has a history of insanity or his conduct indicated an unsound mind, the HC said it would be the "duty of the Police Officer who has arrested him to produce him before the Medical Officer for his examination with regard to unsoundness of mind and to obtain the necessary certificate. "He should be sent to a hospital for treatment and a trial cannot proceed till he is declared mentally fit received, the matter cannot proceed further. If the police fails, a magistrate, must initiate such medical examination, at the time of the first remand itself.