The Kerala High Court has held that there is no prohibition on advertising Ayurvedic treatment and facilities given by individuals and institutions in the State.
The court observed that Rule 170 of the Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945, only prohibited the advertisement of Ayurvedic, Siddha or Unani drugs. There was absolutely no bar in the rules on the advertisement of treatment. Even as per the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954, prohibition was only on advertisement of certain drugs for the treatment of certain diseases or disorders.
The court made these observations while recently disposing of a writ petition filed by an Ayurvedic doctor from Kollam seeking permission to advertise his treatment facilities in the newspapers.
The court also directed the State government to issue circulars to the monitoring officers appointed under the rule 170(14) to take stringent actions for any violation of the cosmetic rules and magical remedies law.
The court also asked the State government to address the Centre on the need for enacting a legislation to see that unqualified persons were not doing any treatment.
