The Chairperson of the Commission, Dr. Justice A.S. Anand expressed serious concern over the fact that insufficient attention was being paid to mental health concerns in the country. The Chairperson was speaking at a seminar on the "Mental Health situation in Correctional and Custodial Institutions" organized by SEVAC, an NGO, with the support of the NHRC, in New Delhi on 23 May 2003. Citing the case of Shri Ajay Ghosh, a non-criminal mentally ill person who languished in a prison for 37 years and a case where 26 chained mentally ill persons were burnt to death in a fire accident in Erawadi, Tamil Nadu, Justice Anand said that such incidents would not have happened had there been effective law enforcement, sensitivity to the concerns of mentally ill persons, enlightened citizenry and a vigilant civil society. The Chairperson stated that mentally ill patients continued to languish in improper settings without psychiatric treatment. This serious malady placed great responsibility on all sections of society and, in particular, of officers responsible for correctional and custodial institutions. The police, the judiciary, mental health professionals and human rights organizations have to play a role to ensure that mentally ill persons are not ill-treated and that they are enabled to lead a life of dignity. The Members of the Commission, Justice (Smt.) Sujata V. Manohar and Shri Virendra Dayal, and other dignitaries - including a former Chairperson of the Commission, Justice Shri Ranganath Misra, and a former Member, Justice Shri V.S. Malimath -- addressed the seminar.