A view of Delhi High Court, in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Delhi High Court on Friday (June 6, 2025) quashed the appointment of Vaidya Jayant Yeshwant Deopujari as Chairperson of the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine, holding that he does not meet the qualification prescribed for appointment to the office.

The court passed the order on two petitions filed by Ved Prakash Tyagi, former president of the erstwhile Central Council for Indian Medicine, and Dr. Raghunandan Sharma challenging the appointment of Mr. Deopujari as the chairperson of the commission (NCISMC).

The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions had issued a circular on June 9, 2021, appointing Mr. Deopujari as the commission’s chairperson.

The petitioners have alleged that Mr. Deopujari could not be appointed as the chairperson of the commission as he does not hold a postgraduate degree, mandated under the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020 (NCISM Act).

The court held that Mr. Deopujari possessed a PhD degree, whereas the requisite degree was an MD or any other equivalent master’s degree in any discipline of the Indian System of Medicine.

The PhD degree that was awarded to him by Pune University did not presuppose acquisition of a lower qualification (Master’s Degree in Ayurveda), it said.

Ineligible person

“We have no hesitation to hold that the expression ‘Post-Graduate Degree’ occurring in Section 4(2) of the NCISM Act, 2020, in the context it has been used, would mean a Master’s Degree (MD) in any discipline of Indian System of Medicine, which the respondent does not possess, and, therefore, he lacks the requisite qualification for being appointed to the office in question,” the court said.

Mr. Tyagi’s plea said the commission was a governing body for all matters relating to education and regulation of Indian medicine in the country.

“Thus, the interests of a large number of people/students/Indian medicine practitioners shall be adversely and severely affected if an ineligible person is allowed to continue as the chairperson of such a critical statutory body,” he added.

The court noted that the counsel representing the Commission has stated in the court that the process of selection and appointment of the Chairperson of the Commission has commenced.

“Accordingly, we direct that the said process shall be completed with expedition, and while conducting the process of selection, the observations made hereinabove in this judgment shall be taken into account,” the court added.