Guwahati: The Supreme Court of India has reserved its decision in a suit challenging the Gauhati High Court ‘s decisions to invalidate the Assam Rural Health Regulatory Authority Act, 2004, ten years after its promulgation.
The Act authorised the treatment of some common diseases by individuals who have successfully completed a three-year diploma programme in medicine and rural health care.
A bench comprising of Justices B. R. Gavai and B. V. Nagarathna heard the matter on Thursday.
The major question was whether the Indian Medical Council Act of 1956 was violated by the Assam Rural Health Regulatory Authority Act of 2004.
The Assam government passed the Assam Rural Health Regulatory Authority Act in 2004 in response to the lack of competent physicians willing to practise in rural areas and to supplement those doctors.
The Act established a Regulatory Authority to regulate and register Diploma Holders and introduced a three-year diploma programme in medicine and rural health care.
According to the Assam Rural Health Regulatory Authority’s regulations from 2005, rural health practitioners were only permitted to treat the listed common ailments, perform the listed minor surgical procedures, and dispense the mentioned medications.
According to the High Court’s interpretation of Section 10A of the Indian Medical Council Act, the State Government was required to obtain authorization from the Central Government before launching the aforementioned diploma programme. The petition made this point.
Because of this, the High Court concluded that the aforementioned measure would be unlawful because neither the Central Government nor the President had given their consent.