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Informist, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Monday issued a notice to the Centre on a public interest litigation seeking recognition of doctors practising Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy, known as AYUSH, as registered medical practitioners under the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. The petitioners, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, an advocate, and his son, sought the constitution of an expert committee to review and update the 1954 Act's schedule, arguing that the law must reflect current scientific developments.
 

The petitioners argued that the law was enacted to protect the public from false and misleading medical advertisements. However, Section 3(d) of the 1954 Act imposed a complete ban on advertisements relating to certain diseases and conditions, the petitioners said.

 

AYUSH doctors and other genuine non-allopathic registered medical practitioners are not covered under the exception of section 14 of the Act for this ban, the petitioners said. This blanket ban effectively stops the advertisement by them of the existence of medication for serious ailments, leading to widespread public ignorance of the drugs, they said.

 

The Right to Information must be cognisant of the diagnosis, prevention, mitigation, cure and treatment of life-threatening chronic diseases, which has been overridden by a grossly disproportionate prohibition of advertisements through an "archaic law", said the petitioners. The initial aim of the 1954 Act was to put a ban on harmful advertisements that had devolved into a blanket ban on all genuine medical advertisements by non-allopathic doctors, the petitioners said. Advertisements relating to drugs and remedies, when truthful, scientifically backed, and non-deceptive, constitute legitimate dissemination of information to consumers and patients, the petitioners said.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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