Treat 'Conversion Therapy' as Professional Misconduct: Madras High Court to NMC

The National Medical Council was also directed to refer to the petitioner's suggestions on conversion practices.

Madras High Court tells the National Medical Commission to treat "conversion therapy" as professional misconduct. Image used for representational purposes only.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Madras High Court in Chennai on Sunday, 10 July issued a series of directions for the upliftment of the LGBTQ+ community, including asking the National Medical Council (NMC) to label "conversion therapy" as professional misconduct.

This directive comes in continuation of the earlier directions issued by the court, where the NMC was asked to ensure that state Medical Councils notified conversion therapy as misconduct, to bring uniformity of rules.

Justice Anand Venkatesh, who was hearing the matter on the Draft Conduct Regulations 2022, noted that despite earlier directions, the draft only classified gender-based discrimination as misconduct and had excluded mention of "conversion therapy," LiveLaw reported.

The court also directed the standing counsel of the NMC to refer to the petitioner's suggestions on conversion practices and their subsequent scope for prohibition.

Further, based on earlier training material, the senior panel counsel for the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) submitted that a module titled 'Training Module on Integrating Transgender Concerns in Schooling Process' has been developed in consultation with different stakeholders.

The same will be shared by second half of August this year. The NCERT's counsel added that training for sensitisation of different stakeholders of school education shall start from the coming academic session, LiveLaw reported.

(With inputs from LiveLaw.)