SC notice to Centre on plea against Ayurveda doctors conducting surgeries

The Indian Medical Association submitted a plea against the decision allowing Ayurveda postgraduates to perform surgical procedures

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Union government on a plea by Indian Medical Association (IMA) against the decision allowing Ayurveda postgraduates to perform surgical procedures.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notice to the Centre, the Central Council of Indian Medicine and others, seeking their reply in the matter within four weeks.

The petitioner claimed the move would cause havoc.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the plea raised over pitched concern. Ayurveda Medical Association also opposed the plea, saying this was an insult to Ayurveda doctors.

The petitioner, for its part, questioned the legality and validity of the Indian Medicine Central Council (Post Graduate Ayurveda Education) Regulations 2016 as amended in 2020 and notified on November 19, 2020.

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It claimed that the notification was manifestly arbitrary and unreasonable as it would result in serious affront and prejudice to the constitutional and fundamental rights of the citizens of this country to receive proper and effective medical care and treatment.

Further, it would cause serious prejudice to the rights of millions of medical doctors across the country who have toiled hard and spent years of their life undergoing training for attaining adequate exposure, experience and qualifications for performing surgeries under the modern scientific system of medicine, the plea claimed.

The petitioner organisation pointed out Parliament has specifically included “surgery” in the definition of “medicine” under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, now substituted by the 2019 Act, and specifically omitted “surgery” from the definition of “Indian Medicine”. “Surgery” has never been a part of Indian Medicine, it maintained.