It is not often that a high court apologises to its petitioner and that too for a wrong decision made by subordinate courts. However, such a scene unfolded on Wednesday when the Delhi High Court expressed its apology to a senior citizen and his family for the "unlawful" orders passed by three magistrates that landed him in mental health hospital for over three weeks. In November last year, 72-year-old Ram Kumar was sent for psychiatric evaluation by a judge after he got into an altercation with the advocates of the other side amid the hearing. Kumar's stay at the mental health institution extended without any mandatory mental illness certificate by the trial court judge, thus violating the Mental Health Act. The sons of Kumar approached high court through advocate Akhil Sharma, which had later set aside the court orders holding them illegal. Post this incident, the Delhi high court in its judgment ordered a survey of the mental health institutions and facilities in the NCT (national capital territory) of Delhi to ascertain how many inmates are being illegally held therein in violation of the Mental Health Act and the Constitution of India. Kumar has been defending himself in a motor vehicle accident case for 10 years before proceedings became heated in the court. His sons claimed that he was being unlawfully detained, which was termed illegal by Delhi High Court last year and Kumar was released from the mental institute. Justices S Muralidhar and IS Mehta observed, "The genesis of the problem that Kumar faced (was) the ten year wait which had obviously tested his limits. Litigation fatigue had set in. Everyday's wait for a litigant who has had to spend a decade defending a case is bound to aggravate his litigation neurosis. The annoyance caused to the judge was not unexpected." The judges added: "The judicial system is overburdened. Judges too are humans. Most of them are overworked. Their patience gets tested often, particularly by litigants in person who, in the process of navigating the legal maze on their own, disrupt the orderly functioning of the Court. However, being part of an imperfect judicial system, a judge must be prepared for an outburst from a disgruntled user of system." Ram Kumar has now been given the token compensation of Rs 2 lakh and told that he may seek other legal remedies against the State, IHBAS and the doctors involved. The Delhi Judicial Academy has also been asked to organise at least four exclusive orientation courses on Mental health Act every year for the judicial officers, the mental health professionals in the NCR of Delhi and the Delhi Police.