Several instances of tuberculosis (TB) resistant to most drugs were reported in Mumbai in January 2012. Eventually, the Government of India declared TB to be a notifiable disease. This paper looks at the utility of notification and the ethical issues posed by it from a public health practice perspective. The paper argues that notification of TB in the absence of regulation of diagnostic practices, rational use of anti-TB medicines and availability of diagnostic and treatment facilities for drug-resistant TB will pose more ethical problems rather than provide solutions by way of adequate and rational treatment to patients.