Transfer of children of unsound mind or suffering from leprosy and other contagious diseases

(1) Where it appears to the State Government that any child kept in an institution or in the care of a fit person under any order of a court is a leper or is suffering from a disease which is declared by the State Government in the manner prescribed (hereinafter called contagious disease), the State Government may, by an order setting forth the grounds of belief that the child is a leper or is suffering from a contagious disease, order his removal to a leper asylum or other place of safe custody, to be kept and treated as the State Government directs during the remainder of the term for which he has been ordered to be kept or, if on the expiration of that term it is certified by a medical officer that it is necessary for the safety of the child or of others that he should be further kept under medical care for treatment, then until he is discharged according to law. (2) Where it appears to the State Government that the child kept in an institution or in the care of a fit person under any order of court is of unsound mind, the State Government may, by an order setting forth the grounds of belief that the child is of unsound mind, order his removal to a mental hospital or other place of safety to be kept and treated as the State Government directs during the remainder of the term for which he has been ordered to be kept or, if on the expiration of that term it is certified by a medical officer that it is necessary for the safety of the child or of other reasons that he should be further kept under medical care or treatment, then until he is discharged according to law. (3) Where it appears to the State Government that the child has become of sound mind, or is cured of leprosy, or of the contagious disease, the State Government shall, by an order, direct the person having charged of the child if still liable to be kept in custody to send him to the institution or fit person from where he was removed, or if the child is no longer liable to be kept in custody, order him to be discharged. (4) The provision of section 31 of the Indian Lunacy Act, 1912, and section 14 of the Lepers Act, 1898, as the case may be, shall apply to every child confined in a mental hospital or a leper asylum under sub-section (1) or (2), and the time during which a child is confined in a mental hospital or a leper asylum under that sub-section shall be recorded as part of the period for which he may have been ordered by the court to be kept; Provided that where the removal of a child due to unsoundness of mind or leprosy is immediately necessary, it shall be opened to the authorities of the institution in which the child is kept to apply to a court having jurisdiction under the Indian Lunacy Act, 1912, or the Lepers Act, 1898, as the case may be, for an immediate order of committal to mental hospital or a leper asylum as the case may be until such times the orders of the State Government can be obtained in the matter.