CHENNAI : The Madras High Court has ordered maintenance of status quo in respect of implementation of the TN Clinical Establishments (Regulation) Act and Rules, insofar as it relates to Unani system of medicine and surgery.A division bench granted the injunction on Wednesday while passing interim orders on a PIL from the Southern Unani Medical Association seeking to quash the GO, dated June 1, 2018, of the State Health department, insofar as it relates to Unani system of medicine.
The PIL also prayed for a consequent direction to the authorities concerned to bring in and incorporate necessary amendments relating to the Unani system in the Rules framed in the 2018 GO. According to petitioner, the State brought in certain amendments to the original Tamil Nadu Private Clinical Establishments (Regulation) Act, 1997 and brought out a new one - Tamil Nadu Clinical Establishments (Regulation) Act, 1997 - in June 2018.
All government as well as private clinical establishments, except those established and maintained by the Armed Forces, were brought under the ambit of the Act. But, they did not contain any specific prescriptions for Unani clinics and hospitals.As per the new norms, all clinical establishments are expected to register with the district committees concerned on or before March 31 this year. Any establishment that fails to register cannot function and offer treatment.
The petitioner had submitted that the rules as framed do not cover the Unani system, and in the absence of specific inclusion of it with regard to the norms to be followed, it will be difficult for the Unani medical practitioners to maintain any norms. It prayed that the rules framed in June 2018 may be kept in abeyance till such time as the Unani medicine and surgery and all necessary details and particulars are incorporated in the in the GO and published again in the gazette afresh.