New Delhi: Giving thousands of diploma holders in community medical service (CMS) the right to prescribe medicine, the Supreme Court has ruled that it is unjust to allow them only to treat rural population without the consequential right to prescribe medicines or issue medical certificates.

Setting aside a Calcutta High Court judgement, a Bench comprising justice S Rajendra Babu and justice Shivaraj V Patil said, "The right to prescribe drug of a system of medicine would be synonymous with the right to practice that system of medicine."

In West Bengal, the CMS diploma holders were employed to man the health centres and subsidiary health centres and allowed to treat common diseases among rural population, including communicable diseases, malnutrition states, snake bites and insect poisoning.

However, CMS diploma holders unsuccessfully challenged in the Calcutta High Court the government decision not to allow them to prescribe medicines or issues certificates, including death certificates on the ground that once they had the right to treat, the right to issue prescription was consequential.

Upholding their argument, the Bench said the appellants were validly holding the right to treat certain diseases. "So their right to issue prescriptions or certificates cannot be detached from their right to treat," justice Babu, writing the judgement for the Bench, said.

Holding that right to issue certificate or prescriptions was imbibed in the right to treat, justice Babu said "one cannot and shall not be separated from the other".

"Once the right to treat is recognised, then the right to prescribe medicine or issue necessary certificates flows from it," the Bench said adding "or else the right to treat cannot be completely protected".

Finding merit in the arguments of CMS diploma holders, the apex court allowed their appeal against the Calcutta High Court order and directed the West Bengal government to make necessary arrangements to include the names of the concerned diploma holders in the state medical register within six months for the limited purpose of prescribing medicines.

The government had expressed apprehension that with the registration of their names in the state medical register, the diploma holders would then insist on their names being registered in the Indian medical register, which maintains the list of practicing doctors.

Allaying the apprehension, the Bench said a person registered in a state medical register could not be enrolled on the Indian medical register unless he possessed "recognised medical qualification".

PTI