Chapter 3 REGISTRATION, POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. (1) Every holder of a recognized 1[qualification acquired] by a regular mode of education attending theory of medical science and sufficient number of days of practical training from 1. Erratum vide SRO No.868/2021 recognized institution, is eligible to be registered as medical practitioner under this Act.
2. (2) No person shall be eligible for registration under sub-section (1), if he is subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in clauses (a) to (d) of section 11.

1. (1) All applications for registration under section 24 shall be sent direct to the Registrar.
2. (2) Application for registration under this Act shall be in the prescribed form and accompanied by such fee as prescribed by rules.
3. (3) Every registered practitioner who applies to the Registrar for registration in respect of any additional recognized qualification obtained shall pay fee as fixed by the Council from time to time.
4. (4) The Registrar shall place all applications under this section before the committee of the Council concerned, appointed for the purpose, for its report.
5. (5) The report of the committee under sub-section (4) shall be placed before the Council concerned for its decision.
6. (6) If the Council concerned allows the registration of the applicant, the Registrar shall enter the name of the applicant in the register concerned and issue him a certificate in such form and containing such particulars as prescribed by rules.
7. (7) In the case of transfer of registration of a person whose name has been registered on the basis of the primary or additional recognized qualification, as the case may be, under any enactment for the registration of practitioners in Modern Medicine, Indian Systems of Medicine or Homoeopathic Medicine for the time being in force in any State in India, shall apply for such a registration in the prescribed form accompanied by such fee as fixed by Council from time to time and registration may be given subject to the scrutiny of documents and the certification from the State Councils concerned.
8. (8) Any practitioner not registered under this Act or to whom sub-section (7) does not apply but registered in any other State in India shall obtain the registration of the Council concerned for practicing as a medical practitioner for a specific period in the State on applying in such form and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed by rules.
9. (9) Every practitioner shall renew his registration in every ten years as prescribed by rules.

1. (1) The Registrar shall prepare and keep a list called “List of persons in practice” as on the date to be notified by the Government under this section.
2. (2) Every person registered as per the Travancore-Cochin Medical Practitioners Act, 1953 (Act IX of 1953) shall be deemed to be registered under this Act: Provided however, that any person whose name has been removed from the registers maintained under the Travancore-Cochin Medical Practitioners Act, 1953 (Act IX of 1953) or the registers maintained under any Act of a State Legislature in India or of the register of any country where he was formerly practising, for professional misconduct, shall not be entitled to have his name entered in the list.
3. (3) The provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4) of section 20, section 27 and section 33 shall mutatis mutandis apply to the list referred to in sub-section (1).

1. (1) Every practitioner registered under the Travancore-Cochin Medical Practitioners Act, 1953 (Act IX of 1953) and all practitioners deemed to have been registered under that Act, shall be deemed to be a practitioner registered under this Act, if at the commencement of this Act, his name stands entered in the appropriate register maintained under the said Act and every Bachelor of Naturopathy and Yoga Science degree holders provisionally registered in this Council as per G.O.(P) No.361/2009/H&FWD dated 19th October, 2009 shall be deemed to be registered under this Act and every certificate of registration issued to every such practitioner shall be deemed to be a certificate of registration issued under this Act.
2. (2) The Registrar shall, as soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, enter in the appropriate registers the names of all such practitioners as are referred to in sub-section (1) on an application and without payment of any fee: Provided that this section shall not be applicable in the case of renewal of registration.

1. (1) The name of any person who becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in clauses (b) to (d) of section 11 shall after obtaining an explanation in writing and after affording an opportunity of being heard, be liable to be removed altogether or for a specific period from the register: Provided that the Council concerned may, on sufficient cause being shown, direct that the name of the practitioners so removed shall be re-entered in the register: Provided further that the Council can suspend the registration of a medical practitioner forthwith in case of his conviction by a competent criminal court for any criminal offence, unsoundness of mind, removal or dismissal from Government service or serious violation of medical ethics. An enquiry shall be started by the Council or through its Ethics Committee, soon after the suspension of registration and final decision of removal shall be based on the enquiry report.
2. (2) The name of a practitioner shall not be removed from the register on the ground of his association in any professional respect with an unregistered practitioner for consultation, if such unregistered practitioner is possessed of recognized qualification: Provided that the registered practitioner shall not be relieved of any obligations or compliance of any rules of conduct which may be imposed upon registered practitioners generally by the Council concerned.

1. (1) Any practitioner registered under this Act may make an application to the Council concerned for the removal of his name from the register of practitioners and the Council may, on such application, direct such removal: Provided that no application from such practitioner for the removal of his name from the register shall be considered during the pendency of any disciplinary proceedings against him or in cases where disciplinary proceedings are contemplated against him, until such proceedings are dropped or concluded: Provided further that if any such application is made with a view to enable the applicant to pursue a course of conduct which would have brought him under the disciplinary jurisdiction of the Council concerned, had his name continued to remain on the register, it shall be rejected.
2. (2) A practitioner whose name has been removed from the register under sub-section (1) may, on application being made and on payment of such fees as may be prescribed by rules, get himself re-registered, if he is at that time eligible for registration under this Act.

1. (1) The Registrar shall in every year on a date to be fixed by the appropriate Council, cause to be published in the website a full or supplementary list of the names and qualification of all practitioners registered under this Act and the dates on which such qualifications were acquired.
2. (2) The Registrar shall, from time to time, cause to be published in the website the names of such practitioners which have been duly removed under any of the provisions of this Act.
3. (3) In any proceeding it shall be presumed that every person whose name is entered in the list published under sub-section (1) is a registered practitioner and that any person whose name is not so entered is not a registered practitioner: Provided that in the case of a person whose name has been entered in the register after the publication of the list, a certified copy signed by the Registrar of the entry of the name of such person in the register shall be the evidence that such person is registered under this Act.

1. (1) No practitioner, other than a qualified registered practitioner who has not undergone a course of practical training in surgery or obstetrics under modern medicine to the satisfaction of the appropriate Council shall practise surgery or obstetrics.
2. (2) No registered practitioner shall follow any other profession without the sanction of the Council concerned so long as his name continues in the register concerned.

1. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force,—
   • (i) the words “legally qualified medical practitioner” or “duly qualified medical practitioner” or any word or words imparting a person recognized by law as a medical practitioner or a member of the medical profession when used in any enactment for the time being in force in the State shall be construed to mean a qualified registered practitioner;
   • (ii) no certificate required by law to be given by a medical practitioner shall be valid unless it is signed by a practitioner registered in Part ‘A’ of the register as prescribed by rules;
   • (iii) no person other than qualified registered practitioner shall be eligible to hold any appointment as hospital physician, surgeon, specialist, super specialist or other medical officer in any dispensary or any clinic, sanatorium, nursing home or other similar institutions.
2. (2) Any person who, not being eligible to hold any appointment referred to in clause (iii) of sub-section (1), holds any such appointment shall, on conviction, be punishable with fine which may extend to rupees five lakh.
3. (3) Whoever, after having been convicted under sub-section (2), continues to hold any such appointment shall, on conviction be punished for each day after the previous date of conviction during which he continues to hold the appointment, with fine of rupees ten thousand for each day.

1. (1) Any person aggrieved by the action of the Registrar regarding any entry in the register may appeal to the Council concerned within thirty days from the date of receipt of the intimation of the Registrar.
2. (2) Such appeal shall be heard and decided by the Council in the manner prescribed by regulations.
3. (3) The Council concerned may, of its own motion or on the application of any person, after such inquiries as the Council may deem fit to make and after giving an opportunity to the person concerned of being heard, cancel or alter such entry in the register, if in the opinion of the Council, such entry was fraudulently or incorrectly made.
4. (4) The Council or its members or authorized officer may suo moto or on a complaint visit and inspect such places referred under clause (iii) of sub-section (1) of section 32 and may report to the Council concerned.

The Government may after, giving notice to the person concerned and to the Council concerned and after inquiry into his objections, if any, order that any entry in the register which shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Government to have been fraudulently or incorrectly made or brought about, be cancelled or amended.

An appeal shall lie to the Government from every decision of a Council under sections 25, 28 and 33. Such appeal shall be preferred within three months from the date on which notice of the order of the Council was issued, in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by rules.