The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled out those traditional medicine practitioners who had acquired degrees like Vaidya Visharads and Ayurveda Ratnas from the popular Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad, after 1967, cannot practice claiming that they do not hold a legitimate degree.

The apex court on Tuesday put a restriction on unrecognized educational institution of admitting students and allowing them to sit for examinations.

“Students of an un-recognized institution cannot legally be entitled to appear in any examination conducted by any government, university or board,” a bench of Justices BS Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar pointed.

Also, the bench annulled a batch of petitions filed by ayurveda practitioners from Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana.

Justices B S Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar ruled out that Hindi Sahitya Sammelan (HSS) was neither a university, deemed university nor an educational body to continue giving medical degrees after 1967, after which its permission by law has expired.

In addition, the judges announced that it is always open to the state or a statutory authority to frame mandatory conditions such as the institution must possess a minimum amount of funds/properties, or number of students or education standard, for it to be recognized.