Rajasthan High Court Quashes State's 'Blanket Ban' On NOCs For Private Pharmacy Colleges, Says Action Devoid Of Legislative Backing

Rajasthan High Court set aside the order passed by the State imposing a ban on granting of NOCs to the private colleges intending to start B.Pharmacy Course as well as for establishment of new colleges seeking to impart the B-Pharmacy Course.Justice Sunil Beniwal held that the act of the State imposing the ban was without any legislative backing or competence, and hence, unlawful. It was further held that the since the ban was only imposed on private colleges, it was arbitrary and discriminatory. “True it is that the State Government has authority to take policy decision, however, such decision has to be rational and cannot be taken without having jurisdiction to do so. The State Government can, in no manner, without deriving authority through proper legislation impose a blanket ban on grant of NOC, that too, taking only the private colleges under the umbrella of such ban.”The petition was filed by an institution who had applied for NOC from the State Government for affiliation to start B-Pharmacy Course. When the NOC was pending, the State passed an order dated April 26, 2025, imposing ban on grant of NOC to colleges intending to start B.Pharmacy course operating in Rajasthan or for establishing new colleges seeking to impart B.Pharmacy course. It was argued by the petitioner, that since the order was made applicable only to private colleges, while the Government colleges were allowed to impart B-Pharma course, it was discriminatory, violation of Article 14 and a colourable exercise of power. It was also argued that such a ban could not have been imposed by an executive order since the Pharmacy Act, 1948 (the “Act”) did not provide for any provision conferring power to impose such a ban on issuing NOC. Hence the act lacked any legislative competence. Further, it was submitted that the reason provide by the State was to prevent mushroom growth of unemployed B-Pharma degree holders. However, the decision was taken without any empirical data. After hearing the contentions, the Court firstly referred to the Supreme Court case of Pharmacy Council of India vs. Rajeev College of Pharmacy & Ors., in which a similar action came under scrutiny and it was held that such an executive ban could be imposed by the State only if had legislative competence. The Court highlighted that since under the Act, there was no power either with the Pharmacy Council of India or with the State Government to impose such a ban, the State Government was not competent to do so. “…decision as to whether it is necessary or not to increase the number of institutions in a given area can be taken by the Council, however, a blanket prohibition on the establishment of pharmacy colleges cannot be imposed by an executive resolution.”Hence, it was held that since the action was without any legislative backing, it could not stand the touchstone of law. Further, the Court highlighted that the ban was imposed only on private colleges, and the State was not able to justify the reason behind the selective ban. In this light, it was stated that if the order was allowed to exist, it would prohibit the private colleges from starting B.Pharma course, however, at the same time, private universities or Government universities would be at the liberty to establish the same. The ultimate impact of the order would be arbitrary and discriminatory action on part of the State and hence, there was no justification in imposing such a ban on private colleges. “True it is that the State Government has authority to take policy decision, however, such decision has to be rational and cannot be taken without having jurisdiction to do so. The State Government can, in no manner, without deriving authority through proper legislation impose a blanket ban on grant of NOC, that too, taking only the private colleges under the umbrella of such ban.”In this background, the Court held that restricting the petitioner by not issuing NOC was arbitrary and violative of Article 14. Accordingly, petition was allowed, and directions were issued to the State to provide necessary NOC if all other criteria was fulfilled. Title: Global Pharmacy College v the State of Rajasthan & Ors. Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 353Counsels for Petitioner: Mr. Shreyansh Mardia. Mr; Mayank Rajpurohit.Counsels for Respondents: Mr. N.S. Rajpurohit, AAG with Ms. Kanchan Jodha; Mr. Nishant Gaur; Mr. Sajjan Singh Rathore, AAG with Mr. Pravin Kumar Choudhary; Ms. Akshiti Singhvi; Mr. Mahendra Vishnoi; Mr. Shagun Mathur; Mr. Tanishq BafilaClick Here To Read/Download Order

Rajasthan High Court Quashes State's 'Blanket Ban' On NOCs For Private Pharmacy Colleges, Says Action Devoid Of Legislative Backing

Nupur Agrawal

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