<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Lawyer fails to get himself out of IMH
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Selina Lum
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A LAWYER sent to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for three weeks of psychiatric observation failed in a High Court bid yesterday to have himself released.
Shackled and handcuffed, M. Ravi spent more than an hour arguing his case from the dock, during which he revealed that an IMH psychiatrist diagnosed him as bipolar.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>The case so far
Aug 11: M. Ravi is charged in court. Prosecutors want him to be sent for psychiatric assessment but the request is denied by District Judge Carol Ling.
Aug 15: Prosecutors try again, submitting a list of 14 incidents involving Ravi. The case is adjourned after Ravi makes strange comments in court such as claiming that the prosecutor is the one of unsound mind.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Ravi, 39, who often referred to himself in the third person, claimed his continued detention at IMH was unlawful.
'The petitioner M. Ravi is a passionate lawyer with a highly stressful practice,' he said. 'His detention is unprecedented.'
His arguments were rejected by Justice Tay Yong Kwang, who saw no reason to overturn the earlier orders of two district judges.
Ravi faces two criminal charges of disturbing a religious prayer session and harassment stemming from an incident at a Chinatown mosque last month.
He was sent to the IMH for observation on Aug 18. He was admitted under a provision that allows an accused person suspected to be of unsound mind to be detained for observation at a mental hospital for up to a month.
On Sept 1, he filed a High Court application to be released from the IMH and also complained of being ill-treated at the hospital.
Yesterday, Ravi said he would not be pursuing his 'unsatisfactory treatment' at IMH as things have since improved.
He argued that the law allows someone to be detained only for observation and diagnosis, not treatment.
He contended that since he had been diagnosed, his detention should come to an end.
He insisted he was of sound mind even though he may have made irrelevant arguments in the past.
'I am lucid and clear in my law, in my mind and in my conscience,' he said.
IMH lawyer Kuah Boon Theng said DrKenneth Koh needs more time to complete his evaluation of Ravi's condition.
Ms Kuah noted that Ravi, who was first diagnosed in 2006 as bipolar, had episodes during which he would 'lose his ability to control his actions'. She also noted that he has repeatedly refused to take his medicine in IMH.
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Selina Lum
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A LAWYER sent to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for three weeks of psychiatric observation failed in a High Court bid yesterday to have himself released.
Shackled and handcuffed, M. Ravi spent more than an hour arguing his case from the dock, during which he revealed that an IMH psychiatrist diagnosed him as bipolar.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>The case so far
Aug 11: M. Ravi is charged in court. Prosecutors want him to be sent for psychiatric assessment but the request is denied by District Judge Carol Ling.
Aug 15: Prosecutors try again, submitting a list of 14 incidents involving Ravi. The case is adjourned after Ravi makes strange comments in court such as claiming that the prosecutor is the one of unsound mind.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Ravi, 39, who often referred to himself in the third person, claimed his continued detention at IMH was unlawful.
'The petitioner M. Ravi is a passionate lawyer with a highly stressful practice,' he said. 'His detention is unprecedented.'
His arguments were rejected by Justice Tay Yong Kwang, who saw no reason to overturn the earlier orders of two district judges.
Ravi faces two criminal charges of disturbing a religious prayer session and harassment stemming from an incident at a Chinatown mosque last month.
He was sent to the IMH for observation on Aug 18. He was admitted under a provision that allows an accused person suspected to be of unsound mind to be detained for observation at a mental hospital for up to a month.
On Sept 1, he filed a High Court application to be released from the IMH and also complained of being ill-treated at the hospital.
Yesterday, Ravi said he would not be pursuing his 'unsatisfactory treatment' at IMH as things have since improved.
He argued that the law allows someone to be detained only for observation and diagnosis, not treatment.
He contended that since he had been diagnosed, his detention should come to an end.
He insisted he was of sound mind even though he may have made irrelevant arguments in the past.
'I am lucid and clear in my law, in my mind and in my conscience,' he said.
IMH lawyer Kuah Boon Theng said DrKenneth Koh needs more time to complete his evaluation of Ravi's condition.
Ms Kuah noted that Ravi, who was first diagnosed in 2006 as bipolar, had episodes during which he would 'lose his ability to control his actions'. She also noted that he has repeatedly refused to take his medicine in IMH.
