Ayurvedic and Unani exception under drugs law depends on the whole preparation, not isolated ingredients.

The exception in section 3(b)(i) of the Drugs Act, 1940 applies only where a medicine or substance is exclusively used, or prepared for use, in accordance with the Ayurvedic or Unani system of medicine. The word "exclusively" governs both use and preparation for use, and the correct inquiry is into the preparation as a whole rather than each constituent ingredient. Whether the particular preparation satisfies that test is a factual question for trial on evidence, not a determination based on isolated components alone.

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Issues: Whether the exception in section 3(b)(i) of the Drugs Act, 1940 covered a medicine or substance only when it was exclusively used, or also when it was prepared for use, in accordance with the Ayurvedic or Unani system of medicine, and whether the decisive inquiry was into the whole preparation or each constituent ingredient.

Analysis: The definition of "drug" in section 3(b)(i) was held to be comprehensive, and the exception was confined to medicines or substances exclusively used or prepared for use in accordance with the Ayurvedic or Unani system. The word "exclusively" was taken to govern both "used" and "prepared for use". The Court further held that the proper approach was to consider the preparation as a whole and not to treat each ingredient or component as determinative. The question whether the preparations in issue satisfied that test was one of fact for the trial court, to be decided on evidence.

Conclusion: The statutory exception did not turn on individual ingredients alone, and the matter remained one of factual determination under section 3(b)(i) of the Drugs Act, 1940; the appeals were not accepted.

Ratio Decidendi: A preparation falls outside the definition of "drug" only if, taken as a whole, it is exclusively used or prepared for use in accordance with the Ayurvedic or Unani system of medicine.

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