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Running A Clinic Is Not Commercial Activity

The high court ruled that a private doctor's clinic is not a commercial establishment and therefore not subject to the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act. The court struck down a 1977 amendment that included medical practitioners' establishments in the definition of commercial establishments. This ruling means that doctors' clinics do not have to pay commercial rates for utilities or renew registration annually.

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Debasish Kundu
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614 views

Running A Clinic Is Not Commercial Activity

The high court ruled that a private doctor's clinic is not a commercial establishment and therefore not subject to the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act. The court struck down a 1977 amendment that included medical practitioners' establishments in the definition of commercial establishments. This ruling means that doctors' clinics do not have to pay commercial rates for utilities or renew registration annually.

Uploaded by

Debasish Kundu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Times of India

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Running a clinic is not commercial activity: HC


Rosy Sequeira, TNN | Jul 11, 2014, 11.40PM IST
inShare
MUMBAI: A private doctor's clinic is not a commercial establishment, the high court has
held, taking medical practitioners out of the purview of the
Bombay Shops and Establishments Act.
A division bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode has struck down a 1977
amendment that included the medical practitioners' establishments. The constitutional
validity of the section, 2 (7), was challenged by an Andheri-based gynaecologist, Dr
Shubhada Motwani, prosecuted for not registering her clinic. The punishment comprised
a fine, calculated for each day of non-registration. She moved court.
Her lawyer, S C Naidu, argued that a medical practitioner's clinic cannot fall within the
definition of commercial establishment as a doctor provides service to patients, an
activity that cannot be termed commercial. He argued that the amendment had included
in its ambit legal practitioners and CAs as well. Lawyers moved court, and the HC held,
in 1984, that the amendment was ultra vires (beyond the powers), striking down their
inclusion in the definition of commercial establishment. In 2006, CAs were given relief.
In the Motwani case, the judges upheld Naidu's submission that an SC judgment of May
2, 1968 (in Dr Devendra Surti vs State of Gujarat), where it was held that the private
dispensary of a doctor is not a commercial establishment, will apply.
"Therefore, the amendment incorporating medical practitioners within the definition of
commercial establishment will have to be held ultra vires and is accordingly struck
down," the HC judges said, directing that criminal prosecution initiated against Motwani
is quashed.
The Indian Medical Association's Dr Jayant Lele said the move is significant and
welcome. "Clinics shouldn't be treated like shops. How can a general practitioner afford
to pay commercial rates for power and water?" he asked. He said the IMA would now
take up a legal battle to ensure that doctors' clinics don't have to pay commercial rates
for power and water. "The act's provisions are supposed to guard the interests of
employees. But renewing registration every year was a chore for doctors. Moreover,
doctors were harassed if there was delay in getting the paperwork done."
Dr Lalit Kapoor of the Association of Medical Consultants said the HC's move would
ensure doctors require one licence less than before to set up their practice. "We have

been requesting the BMC to work out single-window clearance for doctors' clinics and
nursing homes."

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