Cannot revoke licence of medical practitioner under Contempt of Courts Act: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday set aside a Calcutta High Court order to revoke a medical practitioner’s licence for contempt of court [Gostho Behari Das vs Dipak Kumar Sanyal and ors].The bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sanjay Karol said that courts cannot revoke medical licences under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971."This Court has no hesitation in holding that the punishment handed down to the contemnor is entirely foreign to the Act and, therefore, unsustainable. The Court, in awarding such punishment showed complete disregard for the statutory text of the Contempt of Courts Act 1971, which is abundantly clear in respect of the punishment that can be imposed thereunder," the Supreme Court held. The Court added that the power to punish medical practitioners by revoking their licence to practice medicine only lies with the National Medical Commission..Therefore, the top court set aside a July 2022 Calcutta High Court order to suspend a doctor's licence to practice medicine for two years over a failure to take down an unuauthorised construction. .The apex court pointed out that the grant, regulation and suspension of medical practice licences is governed exclusively by the 2019 National Medical Commission Act. "The power to punish a registered medical practitioner for 'misconduct' rest exclusively with the body envisaged under this Act. The Act itself provides for an exhaustive, complete mechanism to revoke the licence of a registered practitioner for professional misconduct. The same may be done after holding an inquiry and complying with the principles of audi alterum partem," the Court said..The Court added the offences of contempt of court and professional misconduct by a medical practitioner are separate and distinct from each other. Professional misconduct falls under the jurisdiction of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, the Court said..The Court also noted that Section 12 (1) of the Contempt of Courts Act only prescribes a punishment of simple imprisonment not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding ₹2,000 for contempt of court. Moreover, the Court found that sub-section 2 of this provision indicated that "no other punishment can be prescribed to a person guilty of committing contempt of Court.”The bench was also informed that the required demolition had taken place..The Court, therefore, allowed the appeal and clarified that the medical practitioner's licence would stand revived. .Advocates Yashwant Singh, Deeksha Tripathi, Harshit Goel, Ashish Kumar Pandey, and Kheyali Singh represented the medical practitioner.Advocates Anwesha Saha, Deborshi Dhar, and Salim Ansari appeared for the Siliguri Municipal Corporation and its officials..[Read Judgment]