The Kerala High Court has sought the Union government’s response on implementing regulations under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021. The Act prescribes qualifications for mental health counsellors.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M. Syam Kumar was considering a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Lady Lawyers Association of Wayanad, seeking directions to introduce a comprehensive legislative framework to prescribe minimum educational qualifications for practising counsellors and establish a licensing and registration system for mental health counsellors.
The PIL also sought to declare the right to access qualified, regulated, and accountable mental health counselling services as a fundamental right, and the ongoing practice of counselling and psychotherapy by unqualified persons a violation of the right.
Directions were sought to the Central authorities to issue necessary guidelines under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, requiring all digital platforms offering mental health services to mandatorily display the full name, educational qualifications, registration number, and the registering authority of every practitioner listed.
The plea sought directions to the police authorities to conduct an appropriate inquiry into complaints of a person offering services through social media by falsely claiming to be a qualified counsellor, and to remove or cause the removal of such content from the social media platforms concerned and initiate appropriate action against such persons in accordance with law.
Published – September 17, 2026 07:00 am IST
