Private Clinics are not Commercial Activity: Bombay High Court

Putting forward the view of the Supreme Court and clearing all interpretations under the Bombay Shops and Establishment Act, 1948, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has clearly specified that a clinic run of a private doctor or their partnership firm can't come under the definition of 'commercial establishment' under the ambit of the said act.

This comes after a writ petition was filed with the Bombay High Court by Indian Medical Association seeking a declaration that the establishments of individual medical practitioners and the medical practitioners working in partnership are not commercial establishments within the meaning of Section 2 (4) of the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948.

By amending the writ petition, the IMA ­ sought a declaration that the inclusion of the term ‘medical practitioners’ in the definition of 'commercial establishments' in Section 2 (4) of the Act by amendment ( brought in 2002) is violative of the provisions of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. 

The logic provided by the counsel appearing for IMA was simple- since medical practitioners are professionals, and hence the practise of a individual medical practitioner cannot be considered a commercial activity. The counsel for the association added that the since doctors are governed by different Acts and even statutory bodies like Medical Council of India(MCI), they are professionals.