In Brief
Kerala Ayurveda Paramparya Vaidya Forum sought the right to practice traditional indigenous medicine (Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani) without formal medical qualifications or registration. The Supreme Court upheld a High Court decision denying their claim. The Court held that registration under applicable statutes is mandatory for all medical practitioners, regardless of system of medicine. Persons cannot practice merely on grounds of hereditary transmission of knowledge or long-standing custom. Only those possessing recognized qualifications and statutory registration can legally practice medicine. The protective provisions for traditional practitioners apply only in limited circumstances—primarily to those already registered before the relevant acts came into force or meeting strict statutory criteria like five years prior practice in states without registers.
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