The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the appointment of Dr. Anil Khurana as Chairperson of the National Commission for Homeopathy, ruling that ‘it was not in accordance with the law’.
A bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan directed Dr Khurana to vacate the office within a week.
“The Respondent shall step down from the office of Chairperson forthwith. By forthwith, we mean a week from today to enable him to complete his assignment without taking any policy decisions involving finances,” the Court stated.
The case stemmed from a writ petition filed before the Karnataka High Court, challenging the appointments of Dr Khurana as Chairperson and Dr K.R. Janardanan Nair as President of the Medical Assessment and Rating Board.
The petitioner, an applicant for both positions, argued that the appointments violated Section 4(2) and Section 19 of the National Commission for Homeopathy Act, 2020, which mandate a minimum of 20 years of experience, including at least 10 years in a leadership role.
A single-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court had ruled in favour of the petitioner, finding that Dr Khurana lacked the required leadership experience. However, a division bench later overturned this ruling on August 31, 2022.
Reinstating the single judge’s verdict, the Supreme Court held: “We have given our reasons why we are holding that the selection and appointment of the 3rd Respondent is not under the law.
Accordingly, the appeals, as directed against the judgment and order of the division bench reversing the order of the single judge, are accepted.”
The Top Court directed that a new selection process for the position of Chairperson of the National Commission for Homeopathy should be initiated.
