Assam: PIL filed in Gauhati high court against fake doctors, quacks

The public interest litigation (PIL) against the quacks is filed by Dr Abhijit Neog who has exposed 26 fake doctors since 2016, read here for further details.

A public interest litigation (PIL) is filed in the Gauhati High Court by a Guwahati-based doctor seeking the court’s intervention in checking the menace of fake doctors and quacks in Assam.

The petitioner Dr Abhijit Neog has exposed 26 fake doctors since 2016 and has prayed for the “issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus” to the respondents to “establish a proper mechanism to ascertain” the qualifications of persons practising modern medicine in Assam and also identify persons practising modern medicine “without” the requisite qualification, as reported by Telegraph India.

"The petitioner was left with no other option but to move the high court seeking after there was no concrete action on his representations to the authorities, requesting the setting up of a proper mechanism to identify and weed out the quacks and ensure they are not allowed to practise modern medicine as they pose a threat to public safety," reads the PIL.

The division bench comprising Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Mitali Thakuria issued notices returnable within three weeks to the respondents comprising the Union Health and family welfare ministry, the Union Ayush Ministry and the National Medical Commission, Assam chief secretary, the state health department, the director of medical education, the medical and education research department and the Assam Council of Medical Registration.

The PIL pointed out that the fake doctors/pretenders are of two kinds — those who do not have any qualification whatsoever and who “assume the identity of a genuine” registered medical practitioner. The second category includes those who “obtain” degrees in the courses such as the “so-called alternative system of medicine” from unrecognised institutions and thereafter “illegally” practise modern medicine.

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