VIDHYA OM PRAKASH SHARMA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS order will dispose of the above numbered two writ petitions.

(2.) UNDER our order dated 23rd Sept. , 1988, we had disposed of the four writ petitions filed by Rajasthan Pradesh Vidhya Samiti through its Secretary Kalyan Chand Purohit and others, the case is reported in RLR 1988 (2), 64, we had taken a view that, such of the persons who had acquired qualifications of either Vidhya Visharad or Ayurveda Ratna after year 1967 from Hindi Sahitya Sammelan are not entitled to be registered in the State Register and arc not entitled to practice as Vidhya. We may straight away say that when we made the aforesaid order certain provisions of Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1976 (for short, the Central Act), were not brought to our notice and they also escaped our notice. The provision which escaped our notice is sub-sec. (3) of Section 17 of the Indian Medical Central Council Act. The said sub-section is as under :- (3) Nothing contained in sub-section (2) shall affect, (a) the right of a practitioner of Indian medicine enrolled on a State Register of Indian Medicine to practise Indian medicine in any State merely on the ground that, on the commencement of this Act, he does not possess a recognised medical qualification; (b) the privileges (including the right to practise any system of medicine) conferred by or under any law relating to registration of practitioners of Indian medicine for the time being in force in any State on a practitioner of Indian medicine enrolled on a State Register of Indian Medicine; (c) the right of a person to practise Indian medicine in a State in which, on the commencement of this Act, a State Register of Indian Medicine is not maintained if, on such commencement, he has been practising Indian medicine for not less than five years; (d) the rights conferred by or under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (including the right to practise medicine as defined in clause (f) of section 2 of the said Act), on persons possessing any qualifications included in the Schedules to the said Act.