15. Request by major for admission as voluntary patient.—Any person (not being a minor), who
considers himself to be a mentally ill person and desires to be admitted to any psychiatric hospital or
psychiatric nursing home for treatment, may request the medical officer in charge for being admitted as a
voluntary patient.
16. Request by guardian for admission of a ward.—Where the guardian of a minor considers such
minor to be a mentally ill person and desires to admit such minor in any psychiatric hospital or
psychiatric nursing home for treatment, he may request the medical officer in charge for admitting such
minor as a voluntary patient.
17. Admission of, and regulation with respect to, voluntary patients.—(1) On receipt of a request
under section 15 or section 16, the medical officer in charge shall make such inquiry as he may deem fit
within a period not exceeding twenty-four hours and if satisfied that the applicant or, as the case may be,
the minor requires treatment as an inpatient in the psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home, he
may admit therein such applicant or, as the case may be, minor as a voluntary patient.
(2) Every voluntary patient admitted to a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home shall be
bound to abide by such regulations as may be made by the medical officer in charge or the licensee of the
psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home.
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18. Discharge of voluntary patients.—(1) The medical officer in charge of a psychiatric hospital or
psychiatric nursing home shall, on a request made in that behalf,—
(a) by any voluntary patient; and
(b) by the guardian of the patient, if he is a minor voluntary patient,
discharge, subject to the provisions of sub-section (3) and within twenty-four hours of the receipt of such
request, the patient from the psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home.
(2) Where a minor voluntary patient who is admitted as an inpatient in any psychiatric hospital or
psychiatric nursing home attains majority, the medical officer in charge of such hospital or nursing home
shall, as soon as may be, intimate the patient that he has attained majority and that unless a request for his
continuance as an inpatient is made by him within a period of one month of such intimation, he shall be
discharged, and if, before the expiry of the said period, not request is made to the medical
officer in charge for his continuance as an inpatient, he shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (3),
be discharged on the expiry of the said period.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), where the medical
officer-in-charge of a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home is satisfied that the discharge of a
voluntary patient under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) will not be in the interest of such voluntary
patient, he shall, within seventy-two hours of the receipt of a request under sub-section (1), or, if no
request under sub-section (2) has been made by the voluntary patient before the expiry of the period
mentioned in that sub-section, within seventy-two hours of such expiry constitute a Board consisting of
two medical officers and seek its opinion as to whether such voluntary patient needs further treatment and
if the Board is of the opinion that such voluntary patient needs further treatment in the psychiatric hospital
or psychiatric nursing home, the medical officer shall not discharge the voluntary patient, but continue his
treatment for a period not exceeding ninety days at a time.