JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Shri Abhay Raj Yadav, learned counsel for the petitioner and Shri Anurag Sharma, learned Central Government Standing Counsel.

2. The petitioner has filed the present writ petition for a direction to the respondent to permit the petitioner to function as Paramedical Council to grant recognition and to register the Institutions, imparting education in the field of Paramedical Courses until the formation of any Regulatory Body for Paramedicals by the respondents and not to interfere in peaceful functioning of the petitioner in imparting the paramedical education and training.

3. A perusal of this writ petition reveals that the petitioner is infact seeking legitimacy to exercise a function that is within the domain of the legislative power of the Parliament exerciseable under the Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.

4. The learned Central Government Standing Counsel has placed before us a copy of the Gazette notification of the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021[Act]. Sections 2(d) and 2(j) of the Act define “allied health professional” and “healthcare professional” respectively as follows:-

“(d) "allied health professional" includes an associate, technician or technologist who is trained to perform any technical and practical task to support diagnosis and treatment of illness, disease, injury or impairment, and to support implementation of any healthcare treatment and referral plan recommended by a medical, nursing or any other healthcare professional, and who has obtained any qualification of diploma or degree under this Act, the duration of which shall not be less than two thousand hours spread over a period of two years to four years divided into specific semesters.

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2(j) "healthcare professional" includes a scientist, therapist or other professional who studies, advises, researches, supervises or provides preventive, curative, rehabilitative, therapeutic or promotional health services and who has obtained any qualification of degree under this Act, the duration of which shall not be less than three thousand six hundred hours spread over a period of three years to six years divided into specific semesters.”

5. Chapter II of the Act provides for constitution of a Commission called the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Profession for exercising such powers and discharging such duties as may be laid down under the Act. Under Section 10 of the Act, the Commission is empowered to constitute Professional Council for every recognised category of the allied and healthcare professionals specified in the Schedule to the Act. Under Section 11, the duty of the Commission is to take all such steps as it may think fit for ensuring coordinated and integrated development of education and maintenance of the standards of delivery of services under the Act and for purposes of performing its functions, the Commission may frame policies and standards for the governance of allied and healthcare related education and professional services; regulate the professional conduct, code of ethics and etiquette to be observed by the allied and healthcare professionals; to create and maintain an upto- date online and live Central Register; provide scope of practice of each profession; provide basic standards of education, courses, curricula, etc.; provide for qualification, uniform entry examination with common counselling for admission into institutions at the diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level; provide for exit or licensing examinations for professional practice or entrance into postgraduate or doctoral level and National Teachers Eligibility Test for academicians, etc. Under Section 12 of the Act, the Central Government is empowered to constitute an Advisory Council to advise the Commission on the issues relating to allied and healthcare professionals.

6. Chapter III of the Act deals with State Allied and Healthcare Council. Section