The Calcutta High Court has recently directed the Director, Health Services to enquire into the alleged issue of entering the names of 947 persons in the register of Unani practitioners and submit a report before the next date of hearing.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj heard a PIL filed by one S.K. Nadeem Ahmed alleging that the respondent no.6 acting as a Registrar of the Council set up under the Paschim Banga Unani System of Medicine Act, 1979 has illegally entered the name of 947 persons as Unani practitioners under Section 20 of the Act though these persons do not have the requisite minimum qualification.
The petitioner submitted that even in the register so maintained, their qualification is not mentioned. He has also produced a copy of the order dated April 22, 2021 passed in WPA 6400 of 2021 and has submitted that the Single Judge has already directed to take action against the said Registrar/respondent no.6 .
While considering the PIL, the Bench observed that the allegation which has been made in respect of entering the name of as many as 947 persons in the register of Unani practitioners without having any requisite qualification needs to be enquired into.
S.N. Mookherjee, Advocate General, has suggested that the inquiry can be conducted by the Director, Health Services. Hence, the High Court directed the Director, Health Services to inquire into the alleged issue of entering the names of 947 persons in the register of Unani practitioners and submit a report before the Court.
It is clarified by the Court that respondent no.6 will not interfere in the inquiry since serious allegations have been leveled against him.
“It would be open to the petitioner to represent and submit all the materials before the Director, Health Services to facilitate the inquiry proceedings,” the order reads.