(1) Any person who desires to apply for a request for an advance directive or fresh directive, or change or revocation, or cancellation of the directive, may make an application to the Board in writing in Form A which shall be provided free of cost in all mental health establishments.
(2) If a nominated representative of a person making an application for advance directive under sub-regulation (1) is named in the advance directive, such representative shall sign the request for advance directive stating his willingness to act as the nominated representative.
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(3) Every application for an advance directive under sub-regulation (1), shall be signed by two witnesses attesting to the fact that the advance directive has been signed by the person making the advance directive in their presence.
(4) Every application for an advance directive shall be registered with the Board having jurisdiction at the place where the person applying for registration resides.
(5) No fee shall be charged for registration of an advance directive under sub-regulation (1) with the Board.
(6) The Board shall make available a copy of the registered advance directive to the applicant and his or her nominated representative.
(7) No person shall release any copy of the advance directive or information in the advance directive to any unauthorized person or to the media.
(8) There shall be no restriction on the number of times an advance directive is changed by the person who applies for, or whose name is appeared in the directive:
Provided that no person shall apply for a change in the advance directive unless a period of three months has elapsed from the date of the advance directive issued to him.
(9) Every change under sub-regulation (8) shall comply with the same process as referred to in sub-regulations (1) to (6) and the previous advance directive shall become null and void on registration of a fresh advance directive with the Board.
(10) The person who has been issued the advance directive or the nominated representative of such person shall, as soon as may be possible, inform the treating mental health professional of the new advance directive.
(11) A nominated representative of the person as mentioned in the advance directive may withdraw his consent,to function as such without giving any reason, by following ways.–
(a) By an application in writing addressed to the Board;
(b) by giving three months prior notice in writing of such withdrawal to such person.
(12) (i) Where a mental health professional or a relative or a caregiver of a person desires not to follow an advance directive while treating a person with mental illness, such mental health professional or the relative or the caregiver of the person shall make an application to the concerned Board to review, alter, modify or cancel the advance directive.
(ii) Upon receipt of such application under sub-section (2) of section11 of the Act,the Board after giving an opportunity to all concerned parties (including the person whose advance direction is in question) to appear and hold a hearingwithin fourteen days and take a decision within a period of seven days thereafter taking into consideration the following, namely:-
(a) whether the advance directive was made by the person out of his 25 ǐबहार गजट (असाधारण), 20 िसतà बर, 2023 own free will and free from force, undue influence or coercion; or
(b) whether the person intended the advance directive to apply to the present circumstances, which may be different from those anticipated; or
(c) whether the person was sufficiently well informed to make the decision; or
(d) whether the person had the capacity to make decisions relating to his mental healthcare or treatment when such an advanced directive was made; or
(e) whether the content of the advance directive is contrary to other laws or constitutional provisions.
(f) The person writing the advance directive and his nominated representative shall have a duty to ensure that the medical officer in charge of a mental health establishment or a medical practitioner or a mental health professional, as the case may be, has access to the advance directive when required.
(g) The legal guardian shall have the right to make an advance directive in writing in respect of a minor and all the provisions relating to advance directive, mutatis mutandis, shall apply to such minor till such time he attains majority.
CHAPTER–III STATE MENTAL HEALTH AUTHORITY