N.C. Jain, J.@mdashThe petitioner by way of this petition has challenged the appointment of respondent No. 3 Dr. Rajeshwar Singh as Registrar
of the Council of Homoeopathic System of Medicine, Union Territory, Chandigarh, primarily on the ground that the Chandigarh Administration
could not appoint respondent No. 3 as the Registrar of the Council of Homoeopathic System of Medicine. With reference to Section 14 of the
Punjab Homoeopathic Practitioners Act, 1965 (hereinafter to be referred to as the ''Act'') it has been vehemently argued that only Council with the
previous approval of the State Government can appoint the Registrar and that such a power to appoint the Registrar does not vest with the
Administrator of the Union Territory, Chandigarh.
2. Before examining the argument in depth, it is necessary to have a look at the Scheme of the Act and Section 14 of the Act. Under the Act, the
State Government has been empowered to established o by notification the Council of Homoeopathic System of Medicines for the purpose of
carrying out the provisions of the Act. The Registrar is to be appointed u/s 14 of the Act who has been defined in Section 2(11) of the Act. The
Registrar in the afore-mentioned provision means the Registrar appointed u/s 14 of the Act. Section 14 of the Act reads as under:-
14 Registrar. - (1) The Council shall, with the previous approval of the State Government, appoint a Registrar who shall receive such salary and
allowances and be subject to such conditions of service as may be prescribed.
(2) The Chairman may, from time to time, grant leave to the Registrar and the Council may appoint a person to act in his place.
(3) Any person duly appointed to act as a Registrar shall be deemed to be the Registrar for all the purposes of this Act.
(4) Any order of the Council appointing, punishing or removing the Registrar from office shall not be passed without the previous approval of the
State Government.
(5) The Council may appoint such other officer and servants as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act :
Provided that the number and designation of such officers and servants and their salaries and allowances shall be subject to the previous approval
of the State Government.
(6) The Registrar and any other officer or servant appointed under this Section shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of
Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code.
(7) The Registrar shall be the Secretary of the Council and shall act as Executive Officer of the Council.
3. The argument of the counsel for the petitioner is well merited. Section 14(1) of the Act as has been reproduced above clearly envisaged that the
Registrar can be appointed by the Council with the prior approval of the State Government. The use of the word ''shall'' after the two words ''The
Council'' does not leave any manner of doubt that it is the Council which enjoys power to make appointment of Registrar and the only rider is that
previous approval of the State Government has to be obtained before making such a appointment. In other words, the mandate of the Section is
that the Council would appoint the Registrar after obtaining prior approval of the State Government. It can be spelt from the reading of the
provisions of Section 14 of the Act that the Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh can not appoint Registrar of the Council.
4. For the reasons recorded above, the order of the appointment of respondent No. 3 as Registrar vide Annexure P/l is hereby quashed.
Consequently, the writ petition is allowed with no order as to costs.