The Centre on Monday informed the Supreme Court that 17 mentally-ill people, who were chained in a faith-based mental asylum in Uttar Pradesh, have been released from the 'dargah'.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer were told by Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta that the authorities have taken cognisance of the matter and a team was constituted which went to the asylum in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh. "It is not a mental asylum. It appears to be a 'dargah'. There seems to be a belief that persons who are possessed can be cured by keeping them there. Persons are chained there so that they do not run away. There were 17 chained persons and they all have been released and are now with their families," he told the bench.