Madras High Court
K.Pavan Kamath vs Union Of India on 26 February, 2020
Author: Pushpa Sathyanarayana
Bench: Pushpa Sathyanarayana
W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED : 26.02.2020
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE Mrs. JUSTICE PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA
W.P.(MD)Nos.16899, 24834, 24835, 24838, 24839, 24840, 24841,
24843, 24845, 24853 and 24854 of 2019
and
WMP(MD)Nos.13483, 21424, 21427, 21431, 21436, 21437, 21438,
21443, 21448, 21463 and 21465 of 2019
W.P.(MD)No.16899 of 2019 :
K.Pavan Kamath .. Petitioner
Vs.
1.Union of India,
Rep. by its Secretary to Government of India,
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
Nirman Bhawan,
New Delhi.
2.The Government of Tamil Nadu,
Rep. by its Secretary for Health
And family Welfare Department,
St. George Fort,
Chennai.
3.The Director General of Police,
Rajaji Salai, Chennai.
4.The Registrar,
Tamil Nadu Homeopathy Medical Counsil,
Arumbakkam,
Chennai – 600 106.
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W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch
5.The Joint Director,
Rural and Medical Health Science,
Madurai District.
6.The District Collector,
Madurai District, Madurai. .. Respondents
***
Prayer in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019 : Writ Petition filed under
Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for a Writ of
Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the records relating to the
proceedings in Lr.No.139/TNHMC/19, dated 05.03.2019 on the file the
fourth respondent and quash the same and consequently direct the
respondents not to interfere with the petitioner's right to practice
Electropathy / Electro Homeopathy in term of the first respondent's
letter dated 05.05.2010.
For Petitioners :Mr.T.Ramar
For R-1 :Mr.D.Saravanan,
Central Government Standing Counsel
For R-2, R-3, R-5 & R-6 :Mrs.J.Padmavathi Devi,
Special Government Pleader
:Mr.V.Vijay Shankar, for
For R-4 Mr.V.Karthikeyan
Standing Counsel
COMMON ORDER
The petitioners in these batch of writ petitions are the practitioners in Electropathy / Electro Homeopathy system of medicine 2/13 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch and they questioned the action of the fourth respondent in forbearing them from doing practice without registering their Diploma certificates in their council and sought for a direction to the respondents not to interfere with their right to practice in terms of the first respondent's letter dated 05.05.2010.
2. Heard the learned counsels on either side and perused the materials placed before this Court.
3. The case of the petitioners is that they studied three years Diploma Course in Electro Homeopathy / Electropathy and have been practising in the said system of medicine, viz., Electro homeopathy treatment and administering medicines to the poor and downtrodden patients. According to them, the MSME recognized them to practise so. The Government of India so far not established any council for recognising the Electro Homeopathy system of medicine in the country, so also the State Government. However, the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, vide the order dated 05.05.2010 made in No.V25011/26/2009-HR unequivocally held that there is no proposal to stop the persons like the petitioners from practising in electropathy or 3/13 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch imparting education. Placing reliance on the judgments of the Hon'ble Apex Court and various High Courts, the petitioners claim that the police personnel have been making frequent enquiries and inspections in their clinics without any authority, which causes serious prejudice in their practice and concern among their patients. Hence, they approached the fourth respondent seeking recognition, who, in turn, turned down their requests. Hence, they are before this Court laying challenge to the said action and for a consequential direction.
4. This Court dealt with an identical issue in a batch of writ petitions in W.P(MD)No.20217 of 2019(batch) and dismissed the writ petitions vide order dated 25.02.2020. The relevant portion of the said order reads as follows:
“14. At the outset, it is to be stated that the learned counsel for the petitioners placed heavy reliance on the order of the first respondent dated 05.05.2010, the penultimate paragraph of the said order, reads as follows :
“In accordance with Orders of the High Court and Supreme Court quoted here, there is no proposal to stop the petitioners from practising in electropathy or imparting 4/13 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch education, as long as this is done within the provision of the Order No.R.14015/25/96-U & H (R) (Pt), dated 25.11.2003. Once the legislation to recognize new systems of medicine is enacted, any practice or education would be regulated in accordance with the said Act. The representation of the petitioner dated 28.10.2009 is disposed of accordingly.”
15. A perusal of the above order of the first respondent makes it crystal clear that there is no proposal to stop the practice of the petitioners in electropathy, if the same is in tune with the order dated 25.11.2003. The said order dated 25.11.2003 clearly states that the first respondent did not recognize Electropathy/Electrohomeopathy and requested the State/Union Territories Governments to ensure that institutions under them do not grant any degree / diploma in the stream of medicine which have not been recommended for recognition and the term “Doctor” is used by practitioners of recognized system of medicine.
16. Further, learned Standing Counsel for the respondents placed before this Court the communications sent by the Government of India, to the fourth respondent, dated 11.05.2016, 10.08.2017 and 12.10.2018 answering the queries of the fourth respondent.
16.1. The first letter dated 11.05.2016 in F.No.R. 13040/25/2015-HD(Tech.), which emanated from the 5/13 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH), Government of India, informs the fourth respondent – the Registrar, Tamil Nadu Homeopathy Medical Council of the State, that Electro Homeopathy is not recognized by Ministry of AYUSH and the matters concerned with recognition of any new system of medicine are dealt by Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
16.2. Thereafter, the fourth respondent addressed a letter dated 12.07.2017 to the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, which was replied via the second letter dated 10.08.2017 in No.V25011/15/2017-HR (Vol.II), informing the fourth respondent as follows :
“.... at present, the electropathy system of medicine does not stand recognized by the Central Government, and, therefore, any question of the Government authorising or recognizing any body, in whatsoever form, to impart education / run courses in this system, may not arise. However, with regard to your query as to whether the courses can be registered under the State Homeopathy/Siddha, etc., councils you may like to make a reference to the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.” 16.3. To the further query of the fourth respondent, the very same authority answered in the letter dated No.U-11018/01/2018-HR, dated 12.10.2018, as follows :
“...... since the electropathy system of medicine itself does 6/13 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch not stand recognised by the Central Government at present, the question of the Government authorising or recognizing any body, in whatsoever name or form, to impart education / conduct courses in this system, may not arise. It may also be stated that vide this Ministry's Order dated 25.11.2003 (copy enclosed), States/UTs were advised to ensure that institutions under them did not grant any degree / diploma in the stream of medicine which had not been recommended for recognition and that the term 'Doctor' be used by practitioners of recognized system of medicine. It may, however, be added that in this Ministry's another order, dated 05.05.2010 (copy enclosed), it was stated that there was no proposal to stop the petitioners from practising in electropathy or imparting education, as long as this was done within the provision of the Order, dated 25.11.2003.” From the above letters, it is clear that the claim of the petitioners is liable to be rejected on this sole ground.
17. The learned Standing Counsel for the fourth respondent also brought to the notice of this Court the judgment of a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in Electropathy Medicos of India V. State of Maharashtra, AIR 2002 Bombay 22, wherein, a direction for closing down of an institute, which offered courses in electropathy/ electro-homeopathy, was ordered as early as in the year 2001. While doing so, the Division Bench observed as hereunder :
“6. At that out set, it is required to be stated that electropathy system which is sought to be espoused by the petitioner-society is not recognised in India nor is it a part of 7/13 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch homeopathy system of medicines recognised in India as is conveyed by misleading name "electrohomeopathy." In fact, no Government/University/Authority has recognised the petitioner- society as medical institution entitled to confer degree and diploma or certificate in electropathy or electrohomeopathy. The degrees, diplomas, certificates etc. conferred by the petitioner/ colleges affiliated to it are not recognised in law and would not permit the students to practice as medical practitioners. We may also mention that electropathy is not recognised as a system of medicine in any part of the world including in Italy, where it is alleged to have been discovered in 1865 as is sought to be made out by the petitioner.
18. The learned Standing Counsel for the fourth respondent also placed reliance on the judgment of the Allahabad, Punjab and Haryana High Courts and of this Court to drive home the point that the Electropathy/Electrohomeopathy is not recognised in India and no one is entitled to practice the said stream and impart education on that stream.
19. It is the claim of the learned counsel for the petitioners that the Hon'ble Apex Court in the judgment dated 01.05.2018 passed in SLP (C)No.20134/2017, following the earlier order made in SLP (C)No.23572 of 2009, permitted the appellant therein to provide an alternative therapy, i.e., Electro Homeopathy, as there is no ban by any competent authority. Even in the said judgment, the Hon'ble Apex Court held that the practice in electropathy or imparting education should be done 8/13 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch with the provisions of the order dated 25.11.2003. Since the claim of the petitioners herein is not in tune with the provisions of the order dated 25.11.2003, they are not entitled to lay their hands in the said judgment to seek similar treatment.
20. As stated above, most of the certificates produced by the petitioners in the typed set of papers, in respect of their claim of obtaining Diploma in Electro Homeopathy, are issued by some private institutions without affiliation to anyone of the statutory bodies / universities recognized by the Acts of the Parliament. The petitioners, who claimed to have undergone a diploma course in the so-called alternative stream of medicine, without even verifying the genuineness of the statutory recognition, status of the institute joined the course, throws serious doubt about the genuineness in their very claim. Having obtained diplomas from such institutes, the petitioners are estopped from claiming any right either to register themselves in the roles of the statutory council or practice in that particular stream of medicine.
21. Though the learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the Central Government is taking steps to enact laws, namely, The Electro Homeopathy System of Medicine (Recognition) Bill, and till such time, the petitioners may be permitted to practice, when this Court posed a specific question as to whether the petitioners 9/13 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch can rely upon the provisions contained in the proposed Bill, it is admitted by him that untill the same is passed by both the House of Parliament and received the Presidential assent, they cannot.
22. In the result, these writ petitions are liable to be dismissed as devoid of merits and accordingly, they are dismissed. However, there shall be no order as to costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.
23. At this stage, it is to be stated that though all the rules and regulations are in place, there is no action taken by the authorities concerned. The authorities are accountable for not implementing the rules. The common man and aspiring students should be informed and awareness should have been created in them about the unrecognized courses.
24. In the instant case, the first respondent even in the order dated 25.11.2003 directed the State Governments and the Union Territories to ensure that the institutions under them do not grant any degree / diploma in the stream of medicine which have not been recommended for recognition. But the institute, in which, the petitioners claim to have studied is able to run the three years courses for many academic years, without 10/13 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch any action being initiated against it by the State Government. The same cannot be weighed lightly, as it caused serious prejudice to the lives of these young petitioners. In such situation, at least, now, the Central / State Governments are directed to take immediate action against such bogus institutes and have a serious check on these issues without any further delay, in accordance with law.”
5. In view of the above, these writ petitioners are dismissed in similar lines. No Costs. Consequently, connected Miscellaneous Petitions are closed.
26.02.2020
Index : Yes/No
Internet : Yes
pm
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W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch
To
1.The Secretary, Union of India,
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
Government of India, Nirman Bhawan,
New Delhi.
2.The Secretary,
Health And family Welfare Department
Government of Tamil Nadu,
St. George Fort,
Chennai.
3.The Director General of Police,
Rajaji Salai, Chennai.
4.The Registrar,
Tamil Nadu Homeopathy Medical Counsil, Arumbakkam, Chennai – 600 106.
5.The Joint Director, Rural and Medical Health Science, Madurai District.
6.The District Collector, Madurai District, Madurai.
12/13 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.16899/2019, etc. batch PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA, J.
pm Common Order in W.P.(MD)No.16899 of 2019, etc. batch 26.02.2020 13/13 http://www.judis.nic.in