Justice Teekaa Raman of the Madras High Court, while quashing the charge sheet against a doctor, recently held that institutionally qualified practitioners of Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Siddha, and Unani registered with the Tamil Nadu Board of Indian Medicine in Chennai are eligible to practice in the respective system with Allopathy based on the training and teaching they received in the Course, however, they cannot solely practice Allopathy Medicine.
The court was hearing a plea wherein a doctor sought for quashing of the charge sheet registered against him on November 25, 2018, for offences of cheating and violating the provisions of the Indian Medical Council Act 1956.
The petitioner, Dr. R. Senthilkumar submitted that he obtained a BHMS (Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery) degree from the Tamil Nadu Dr.M.G.R.Medical University and registered with the Tamil Nadu Homoeopathy Medical Council, and thus is a registered medical practitioner in the Indian System of Medicine.
The counsel for Senthilkumar cited a Circular dated October 15, 2010, issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Tamil Nadu wherein it was stated that “the institutionally qualified practitioners of Ayurveda, Sidddha and Unani, who are registered in the Tamil Nadu Board of Indian Medicine, Chennai are eligible to practice in the respective system with Allopathy based on the training and teaching they had in the Course. But they cannot exclusively do the practice in Allopathy Medicine.”
The counsel also cited another circular wherein the government had held that according to section 17(3) B of the Indian Medicine Central Council Act of 1970, institutionally qualified practitioners of Siddha, Ayurveda, and Unani Tibb Homeopathy are eligible to practice their respective systems alongside modern scientific medicine, including surgery and gynecology. Obstetrics, Anesthesiology, ENT, Opthalmology, and other specialties are based on training and teaching.
The circular also stated that all Commissioners of Police/Inspector Generals of Police, Deputy Inspector Generals of Police, and Superintendents of Police are requested to instruct police officers in cities and districts not to interfere with the practice of registered practitioners of Siddha, Ayurveda, Unani, Homeopathy, and Naturopathy who are members of the Tamil Nadu Siddha Medical Council, Tamil Nadu Board of Indian Medicine, and Tamil Nadu Homeopathy Medical Council.
In light of the aforementioned circular, Court observed that no proceedings must be initiated against any registered practitioners in Siddha, Ayurveda, Homeopathy, and Unani who are eligible to practice irrespective of the respective system, as well as Modern Scientific Medicine including Surgery and Gynecology Obstetrics, Anesthesiology, ENT, Opthalmology, etc.
Accordingly, the court quashed the charge sheet against the petitioner.
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