Pharmacy Council Of India Moves Supreme Court Against Chhattisgarh HC Order Granting Interim Relief To Pharmacy Institutions

The Pharmacy Council of India, within a week of the judgment of the Chhattisgarh High Court granting Interim Relief to Pharmacy Colleges, has moved a Special Leave Plea before the Supreme Court.It may be noted that the Chhattisgarh High Court last week granted interim relief to a batch of colleges who had approached it challenging the 5-year moratorium/ ban imposed by the Government of India (GOI) and Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) on the opening of new Pharmacy Colleges in the country for the next 5 years.Now, the SLP preferred by PCI, challenges the interim order of the Chhattisgarh High Court directing PCI to accept, process, and conclude the consideration exercise of the Applications of the opening of new Pharmacy Institutions (making the outcome subject to the final orders of the High Court). The Single Bench of Chhattisgarh High Court had passed interim orders in Writ Petitions challenging the 5 years to ban imposed by the PCI and the GOI on the opening of new Pharmacy Institutions in the country. The High Court had held that prima facie the contentions of the Petitioners made substance and the Interim Relief prayed for doesn't actually harm the case of the PCI as they are not required to issue the final approval letters till the final decision of the Court. The Colleges had challenged the moratorium order imposed by PCI on the grounds of it being repugnant to the parent enactment of Pharmacy Act, 1948, as also multiple grounds of it in excess of the delegated powers to it.Read more about the Chhattisgarh High Court's order here: Chhattisgarh High Court Grants Interim Relief On Pleas Challenging 5-Yr Moratorium On Opening Of New Pharmacy Colleges It may be noted that recently, the Division Bench of Karnataka High Court had also set aside the ban order of the PCI holding it to be in the teeth of parent enactment of the PCI Act, as also unconstitutional on multiple grounds. Against the said judgment, the PCI has appealed to the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court, which without granting a stay of the judgment has fixed the matter for final arguments in January 2022. The SLP filed through AoR, Mr. Zoheb Hussain pleads that whilst passing the interim order, the High Court has virtually granted the final relief, which could not have been granted at the interim stage till the parties were heard finally. The SLP further pleads that the moratorium order cannot be said to be absolute in nature, as it is in the nature of a 'temporary prohibition' meant to check the gross imbalance between the demand and supply of pharmacist degree holders in the country and the requirement in the open market. The PCI has also mentioned in the SLP that it had relied upon statistics and field studies before taking an informed decision in consultation with the GOI (Department of Health), and therefore, the said decision being based on surveys and statistics cannot be lightly interfered by the High Court. The SLP is likely to be listed and heard on reopening of the Supreme Court after vacations.

Pharmacy Council Of India Moves Supreme Court Against Chhattisgarh HC Order Granting Interim Relief To Pharmacy Institutions

Sparsh Upadhyay

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