THE DRUGS AND MAGIC REMEDIES (OBJECTIONABLE ADVERTISEMENTS)                 

ACT, 1954 
___________ 

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
_____________ 

SECTIONS 

1.  Short title, extent and commencement. 
2.  Definitions. 
3.  Prohibition of advertisement of certain drugs for treatment of certain diseases and disorders. 
4.  Prohibition of misleading advertisements relating to drugs. 
5.  Prohibition of advertisement of magic remedies for treatment of certain diseases and disorders. 
6.  Prohibition of import into, and export from, India of certain advertisements. 
7.  Penalty. 
8.  Powers of entry, search, etc. 
9.  Offences by companies. 
9A. Offences to be cognizable. 
10.  Jurisdiction to try offences. 
 10A. Forfeiture. 
11.  Officers to be deemed to be public servants. 
12.  Indemnity. 
13.  Other laws not affected. 
14.  Savings. 
15.  Power to exempt from application of Act. 
16.  Power to make rules. 

THE SCHEDULE. 

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THE DRUGS AND MAGIC REMEDIES (OBJECTIONABLE ADVERTISEMENTS)                 

ACT, 1954 
ACT NO. 21 OF 19541 
An Act to control the advertisement of drugs in certain cases, to prohibit the  advertisement for 
certain  purposes  of  remedies  alleged  to  possess  magic  qualities  and  to  provide  for  matters 
connected therewith. 

BE it enacted by Parliament as follows:— 

1.  Short  title,  extent  and  commencement.—(1)  This  Act  may  be  called  the  Drugs  and  Magic 

Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954. 

(2)  It  extends  to  the  whole  of  India  except  the  State  of  Jammu  and  Kashmir,  and  applies  also  to 

persons domiciled in the territories to which this Act extends who are outside the said territories. 

(3)  It  shall  come  into  force  on  such  date2 as  the  Central  Government  may,  by  Notification  in  the 

Official Gazette, appoint. 

2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 

(a)  „advertisement‟  includes  any  notice,  circular,  label,  wrapper  or  other  document,  and  any 

announcement made orally or by any means of producing or transmitting light, sound or smoke; 

(b) „drug‟ includes— 

(i) a medicine for the internal or external use of human beings or animals; 

(ii) any substance intended to be used for or in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or 

prevention of disease in human beings or animals; 

(iii) any article, other than food, intended to affect or influence in any way the structure or 

any organic function of the body of human beings or animals; 

(iv) any article intended for use as a component of any medicine, substance or article, referred 

to in sub-clauses (i), (ii) and (iii); 

(c) „magic remedy‟ includes a talisman, mantra, kavacha, and any other charm of any kind which 
is  alleged  to  possess  miraculous  powers  for  or  in  the  diagnosis,  cure,  mitigation,  treatment  or 
prevention of any disease in human beings or animals or for affecting or influencing in any way the 
structure or any organic function of the body of human beings or animals; 

3[(cc) „registered medical practitioner‟ means any person,— 

(i)  who  holds  a  qualification  granted  by  an  authority  specified  in,  or  notified  under        

section 3 of the Indian Medical Degrees Act, 1916 (7 of 1916) specified in the Schedules to the 
Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956); or 

(ii) who is entitled to be registered as a medical practitioner under any law for the time being 
in force in any State to which this Act extends relating to the registration of medical practitioner;] 

(d) „taking any part in the publication of any advertisement‟ includes— 

(i) the printing of the advertisement, 

1. This Act has been extended to Pondicherry by Reg. 7 of 1963, sec. 3 and Sch. I (w.e.f. 1-10-1963), and extended to the State of 

Sikkim, vide S.O. 949 (E), dated 20th October, 1988. 

2.  1st  April,  1955,  vide  notification  No.  S.R.O.  511,  dated  26th  February,  1995,  see  Gazette  of  India,  1955,  Part  II,                       

s. 3. 

3. Ins. by Act 42 of 1963, s. 2 (w.e.f. 7-12-1963). 

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(ii) the publication of any advertisement outside the territories to which this Act extends by or 

at the instance of a person residing within the said territories; 

1*                           *                          *                           *                            *                                 * 
3.  Prohibition  of  advertisement  of  certain  drugs  for  treatment  of  certain  diseases  and 
disorders.—Subject to the provisions of this Act, no person shall take any part in the publication of any 
advertisement referring to any drug in terms which suggest or are calculated to lead to the use of that drug 
for— 

(a) the procurement of miscarriage in women or prevention of conception in women; or 

(b) the maintenance or improvement of the capacity of human beings for sexual pleasure; or 

(c) the correction of menstrual disorder in women; or 
2[(d) the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any disease, disorder or condition 
specified  in  the  Schedule,  or  any  other  disease,  disorder  or  condition  (by  whatsoever  name  called) 
which may be specified in the rules made under this Act: 

Provided that no such rule shall be made except— 

(i)  in  respect  of  any  disease,  disorder  or  condition  which  requires  timely  treatment  in 
consultation  with  a registered  medical  practitioner  or  for  which there  are  normally  no  accepted 
remedies; and 

(ii) after consultation with the Drugs Technical Advisory Board constituted under the Drugs 
and Cosmetics Act, 1940 (23 of 1940), and if the Central Government considers necessary, with 
such other persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of Ayurvedic or 
Unani systems of medicines as that Government deems fit.] 

4. Prohibition of misleading advertisements relating to drugs.—Subject to the provisions of this 
Act,  no  person  shall  take  any  part  in  the  publication  of  any  advertisement  relating  to  a  drug  if  the 
advertisement contains any matters which— 

(a) directly or indirectly gives a false impression regarding the true character of the drug; or 

(b) makes a false claim for the drug; or 

(c) is otherwise false or misleading in any material particular. 

5.  Prohibition  of  advertisement  of  magic  remedies  for  treatment  of  certain  diseases  and 
disorders.—No  person  carrying  on  or  purporting  to  carry  on  the  profession  of  administering  magic 
remedies shall take any part in the publication of any advertisement referring to any magic remedy which 
directly or indirectly claims to be efficacious for any of the purposes specified in section 3. 

6.  Prohibition  of  import  into,  and  export  from,  India  of  certain  advertisements.—No  person 
shall import into, or export from, the territories to which this Act  extends any documents containing an 
advertisement  of  the  nature  referred  to  in  section  3  or  in  section  4  or  section  5,  and  any  document 
containing any such advertisements shall be deemed to be goods of which the import or export has been 
prohibited under section 19 of the Sea Customs Act, 1878 (8 of 1878), and all the provisions of that Act 
shall have effect accordingly, except that  section 183 thereof shall have effect as if for the word  „shall‟ 
therein the word „may‟ were substituted. 

7. Penalty.—Whoever contravenes any of the provisions of this Act 3[or the rules made thereunder] 

shall, on conviction, be punishable— 

(a) in the case of the first conviction, with imprisonment which may extend to six months, or with 

fine, or with both; 

1. Clause (e) omitted by Act 42 of 1963, s. 2 (w.e.f. 7-12-1963). 
2. Subs. by s. 3, ibid., for clause (d) (w.e.f. 17-12-1963). 
3. Ins. by s. 4, ibid. (w.e.f. 17-12-1963). 

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(b) in the case of a subsequent conviction, with imprisonment which may extend to one year, or 

with fine, or with both. 
1[8. Powers of entry, search, etc.—(1) Subject to the provisions of any rules made in this behalf, any 
Gazetted Officer authorised by the State Government may, within the local limits of the area for which he 
is so authorised,— 

(a) enter and search at all reasonable times, with such assistants, if any, as he considers necessary, 
any  place  in  which  he  has  reason  to  believe  that  an  offence  under  this  Act  has  been  or  is  being 
committed; 

(b) seize any advertisement which he has reason to believe contravenes any of the provisions of 

this Act: 

Provided that the power of seizure under this clause may be exercised in respect of any document, 
article  or  thing  which  contains  any  such  advertisement,  including  the  contents,  if  any,  of  such 
document, article or thing, if the advertisement cannot be separated by reason of its being embossed 
or otherwise, from such document, article or thing without affecting the integrity, utility or saleable 
value thereof; 

(c)  examine  any  record,  register,  document  or  any  other  material  object  found  in  any  place 
mentioned in clause (a) and seize the same if he has reason to believe that it may furnish evidence of 
the commission of any offence punishable under this Act. 

(2) The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898), shall, so far as may be, apply 
to any search or seizure under this Act as they apply to search or seizure made under the authority of a 
warrant issued under section 98 or the said Code. 

(3) Where any person seizes anything under clause (b) or  clause (c) of sub-section (1), he shall, as 

soon as may be, inform a Magistrate and take his orders as to the custody thereof.] 

9.  Offences  by  companies.—(1)  If  the  person  contravening  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  Act  is  a 
company,  every  person  who,  at  the  time  the  offence  was  committed,  was  in  charge  of,  and  was 
responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company as well as the company shall 
be  deemed  to  be  guilty  of  the  contravention  and  shall  be  liable  to  be  proceeded  against,  and  punished 
accordingly: 

Provided  that  nothing  contained  in  this  sub-section  shall  render  any  such  person  liable  to  any 
punishment  provided  in  this  act  if  he  proves  that the offence  was  committed  without  his  knowledge  or 
that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence. 

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) where an offence under this Act has been 
committed by a company and it is proved that the offence was committed with the consent or connivance 
of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director or manager, secretary or other officer of the 
company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, shall also be deemed to be 
guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. 

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,— 

(a) „company‟ means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; 

and 

(b) „director‟ in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm. 

2[9A.  Offences  to  be  cognizable.—Notwithstanding  anything  contained  in  the  Code  of  Criminal 

Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898), an offence punishable under this Act shall be cognizable.] 

1. Subs. by Act 42 of 1963, s. 5, for s. 8 (w.e.f. 7-12-1963). 
2. Ins. by s. 6, ibid. (w.e.f. 7-12-1963). 

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10.  Jurisdiction  to  try  offences.—No  Court  inferior  to  that  of  a  Presidency  Magistrate  or  a 

Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence punishable under this Act. 

1[10A. Forfeiture.—Where a person has been convicted by any Court for contravening any provision 
of  this  Act  or  any  rule  made  thereunder,  the  Court  may  direct  that  any  document  (including  all  copies 
thereof),  article  or  thing,  in  respect  of  which  the  contravention  is  made,  including  the  contents  thereof 
where such contents are seized under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 8, shall be forfeited to the 
Government.] 

11. Officers to be deemed to be public servants.—Every person authorized under section 8 shall be 

deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860). 

12.  Indemnity.—No  suit,  prosecution  or  other  legal  proceeding  shall  lie  against  any  person  for 

anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act. 

13. Other laws not affected.—The provisions of this Act are in addition to, and not in derogation of 

the provisions of any other law for the time being in force. 
2[14. Savings.—Nothing in this Act shall apply to— 

(a)  any  signboard  or  notice  displayed  by  a  registered  medical  practitioner  on  his  premises 
indicating that treatment for any disease, disorder or condition specified in section 3, the Schedule or 
the rules made under this Act is undertaken in those premises; or 

(b)  any  treatise  or  book  dealing  with  any  of  the  matters  specified  in  section  3  from  a  bonafide 

scientific or social standpoint; or 

(c)  any  advertisement  relating  to  any  drug  sent  confidentially  in  the  manner  prescribed  under 

section 16 only to a registered medical practitioner; or 

(d) any advertisement relating to a drug printed or published by the Government; or 

(e)  any  advertisement  relating  to  a  drug  printed  or  published  by  any  person  with  the  previous 
sanction  of  the  Government  granted  prior  to  the  commencement  of  the  Drugs  and  Magic  Remedies 
(Objectionable Advertisements) Amendment Act, 1963 (42 of 1963): 

Provided that  the  Government  may,  for  reasons to be  recorded  in  writing,  withdraw  the  sanction 

after giving the person an opportunity of showing cause against such withdrawal.] 

15. Power to exempt from application of Act.—If, in the opinion of the Central Government, public 
interest requires that the advertisement of any specified drug or class of drugs 3[or any specified class of 
advertisements  relating  to  drugs]  should  be  permitted,  it  may,  by  notification  in  the  Official  Gazette, 
direct that the provisions of sections 3,4,5 and 6 or any one of such provisions shall not apply‟ or shall 
apply  subject  to  such  conditions  as  may  be  specified  in  the  notification  to  or  in  relation  to  the 
advertisement of any such drugs or class of drugs 3[or any such class of advertisements relating to drugs]. 

16. Power to make rules.—(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, 

make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act. 

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power; such rules may— 

(a) specify any 4[disease, disorder or condition] to which the provisions of section 3 shall apply; 

1. Ins. by Act 42 of 1963, s. 7 (w.e.f. 7-12-1963). 
2. Subs. by s. 8, ibid., for section 14 (w.e.f. 7-12-1963). 
3. Ins. by s. 9, ibid. (w.e.f. 17-12-1963). 
5. Subs. by s. 10, ibid., for “disease or condition” (w.e.f. 7-12-1963). 

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(b) prescribe the manner in which advertisements of articles or things referred to in clause (c) of 

1* * * section 14 may be sent confidentially. 
2[(3)  Every  rule  made  under  this  Act  shall  be  laid  as  soon  as  may  be  after  it  is  made,  before  each 
House of Parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one 
session or in two or more successive sessions, and if before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid 
or the successive  sessions aforesaid,  both  Houses agree in  making  any  modification  in  the rule  or  both 
Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified 
form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be 
without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.] 

3[THE SCHEDULE 
[See sections 3(d) and 14] 

S. No.  Name of the disease, disorder or condition 

 1. 

 2. 

 3. 

 4. 

 5. 

 6. 

 7. 

 8. 

 9. 

Appendicitis. 

Arteriosclerosis. 

Blindness 

Blood poisoning. 

Bright‟s disease. 

Cancer 

Cataract. 

Deafness. 

Diabetes. 

10.  Diseases and disorders of the brain. 

11.  Diseases and disorders of the optical system 

12.  Diseases and disorders of the uterus 

13.  Disorders of menstrual flow. 

14.  Disorders of the nervous system. 

15.  Disorders of the prostatic gland. 

16.  Dropsy. 

1. The words, brackets and figure “sub-section (1) of” omitted by Act 42 of 1963, s. 10 (w.e.f. 7-12-1963). 
2. Ins. by s. 10, ibid. (w.e.f. 7-12-1963). 
3. Added by s. 11, ibid. (w.e.f. 7-12-1963). 

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S. No.  Name of the disease, disorder or condition 

17. 

Epilepsy. 

18. 

Female diseases (in general) 

19. 

Fevers (in general). 

 20. 

Fits. 

21. 

Forms and structure of the female bust. 

22.  Gall stones, kidney stones and bladder stones. 

23.  Gangrene 

24.  Glaucoma. 

25.  Goitre. 

26.  Heart diseases. 

27.  High or low blood pressure. 

28.  Hydrocele. 

29.  Hysteria. 

30. 

Infantile paralysis. 

31. 

Insanity. 

32. 

Leprosy. 

33. 

Leucoderma. 

34. 

Lockjaw. 

35. 

Locomotor ataxia. 

36. 

Lupus. 

37.  Nervous debility. 

38.  Obsesity. 

39. 

Paralysis. 

40. 

Plague. 

41. 

Pleurisy. 

42. 

Pneumonia. 

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S. No.  Name of the disease, disorder or condition 

43. 

44. 

45. 

46. 

47. 

48. 

49. 

50. 

51. 

52. 

Rheumatism. 

Ruptures. 

Sexual impotence. 

Smallpox. 

Stature of persons. 

Sterility in women. 

Trachoma. 

Tuberculosis. 

Tumours. 

Typhoid fever. 

53.  Ulcers of gastrointestinal tracts. 

54.     

Venereal  diseases,  including  syphilis,  gonorrhea,  soft  chancre,  venereal  granuloma  and 
lympho granuloma.] 

________ 

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