94Emergency treatment

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, any medical treatment, including treatment for mental illness, may be provided by any registered medical practitioner to a person with mental illness either at a health establishment or in the community, subject to the informed consent of the nominated representative, where the nominated representative is available, and where it is immediately necessary to prevent—

(a) death or irreversible harm to the health of the person; or

(b) the person inflicting serious harm to himself or to others; or

(c) the person causing serious damage to property belonging to himself or to others where such behaviour is believed to flow directly from the person's mental illness.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, "emergency treatment" includes transportation of the person with mental illness to a nearest mental health establishment for assessment.

(2) Nothing in this section shall allow any medical officer or psychiatrist to give to the person with mental illness medical treatment which is not directly related to the emergency treatment specified under sub-section (1).

(3) Nothing in this section shall allow any medical officer or psychiatrist to use electro-convulsive therapy as a form of treatment.

(4) The emergency treatment referred to in this section shall be limited to seventy-two hours or till the person with mental illness has been assessed at a mental health establishment, whichever is earlier:

Provided that during a disaster or emergency declared by the appropriate Government, the period of emergency treatment referred to in this sub-section may extend up to seven days.