State Questions IMA's Locus Standi in Bombay High Court Over Allopathy Law

The Maharashtra state government on Thursday questioned the legal standing of the Indian Medical Association in the Bombay High Court in Mumbai, challenging the association's right to contest laws that allow homeopaths to practise allopathy.

Advocate General Milind Sathe, appearing for the state before a special bench comprising Justices Riyaz Chagla and Farhan Dubash, raised objections over the Indian Medical Association's petition against 2014 legislative changes.

The challenged amendments were made to the Maharashtra Medical Council Act and the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Act. These statutory revisions introduced the Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology, paving the way for homeopaths to practise modern medicine.

Sathe questioned how the doctors' association could claim to be aggrieved by the legislation. Addressing the court, he submitted that the association is a voluntary body of medical practitioners and has not established that it suffered any direct legal injury as a consequence of the amendments.

The advocate general argued that a petitioner cannot challenge the constitutional validity of an enacted law simply due to disagreement with its provisions. He stated that the Indian Medical Association must first establish its locus standi and prove legal injury before the High Court can proceed to examine the constitutional validity of the legislation.

Sathe further submitted that the challenge brought by the association does not stem from any alleged violation of doctors' fundamental rights to pursue their profession. Questioning whether the petitioners' medical practice was genuinely being affected, he pointed out to the bench that the challenge did not invoke Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to practise any profession or carry on any occupation, trade, or business.