Medical Jurisprudence And Toxicology

404 MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE

ment is generally the President of the Medical Council, but in some states
the President of the Medical Council is elected by the members from
amongst themselves, while the Registrar or Secretary of the Medical Council
maintains a medical register for the province. Persons possessing medical
qualifications included in the schedule maintained by the Provincial Medical
Councils are eligible for registration on payment of the prescribed fees and
on furnishiag proof of the qualifications possessed by them.

A registered medical practitioner is entitled to hold official appoint-
ments, to sign birth, death or other medical certificates required by law, to
give evidence at any inquest or in any court of law as an expert under sec-
tion 45 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, on any matter relating to medicine/
surgery or midwifery, and to be exempted from serving on a jury and an
inquest,

Registration is not compulsory under different Provincial Medical Acts
of India, but section 32 of the Bombay Medical Practitioners' Act, 1938, as
amended by Bombay Act No. V of 1950 makes registration compulsory and
debars persons from practising or holding themselves out as practising for
personal gain any system of medicine, surgery or midwifery in this State,
unless they are registered under section 16 of this Act, or under section 7
of the Bombay Medical Act, 1912, or whose names are entered in the list
kept under section 18 of this Act. Section 34 of this Act makes the con-
travention of the provision of section 32 a penal offence and prescribes a fine
upto Rs. 100 for the first offence and upto Rs. 500 for every subsequent
offence.

THE INDIAN MEDICAL COUNCIL ACT

' In the year 1933 the Indian Legislative Assembly passed an Act, known
as the Indian Medical Council Act, 1933 (Act No. XXVII of 1933) , which
received the assent of the Governor-General on the twenty-third day of
September 1933. The Act has since been modified upto the 1st December
1937. The object of the Act is to constitute a Medical Council in India in
order to establish a uniform minimum standard of higher qualifications in
medicine for all provinces. The Medical Council constituted under this Act
shall consist of (a) one member from each Governor's province, to be nomi-
nated by the Central Government, (b) one member from each British
Indian University, to be elected by the members of the Senate of the
University (or, in the case of the University of Lucknow, the Court) , from
amongst the members of the medical facility of the University, (c) one
member from each province where a Provincial Medical Register is main-
tained, to be elected from amongst themselves by persons enrolled on the
Register who possess recognized medical qualifications or medical
^t&Hfications granted by a British Indian University, and (d) four members
to be nominated by the Central Government. The President of the Council
shall be elected by the members of the Council from amongst themselves
provided that for four years from the first constitution of the Council the
President 'shall be a person nominated by the Central Government who shall
ipld office during the pleasure of the Central Government, and, where he
is 33>ot already a member, shall be a member of the Council in addition to the
members pr^cribed in this Act The members of the Council shall hold
office for 'five years,

, - .The, .MedicaL Council i?ecognizes for the purpose of this Act those
gaedieal qtialificatjioiis" which are granted by niedical institutions iix British
India ;and which are io^iaied ifi the first schedule.2 The Medic4 Council
aBo recojgnizes the mei^cal guaUftcatipAs granted by medical

2, Vide the Indian Medical Coiancil Act, 1953, as modified upto 1st Dec. 19f7, p. XL