New Delhi: The Supreme Court asked the Pharmacy Council of India to accept and process the applications of new pharmacy institutions, which had approached the Delhi and Karnataka High Courts against a moratorium issued by the PCI.
Concerned about the expansion of pharmaceutical colleges in the country, the Supreme Court stated that education has now become a business with large corporate houses. The SC stated, “Because of the high cost of medical education here, students from India were required to go to Ukraine. It is much cheaper there”.
The statement was made by a vacation bench comprising justices B R Gavai and Hima Kohli while hearing an appeal filed by the Pharmacy Council of India against the orders of the two high courts.
Posting the matter for hearing, the bench said, “By way of ad-interim orders, we direct the Pharmacy Council of India to accept and process the application of the applicants who were petitioners before the high court and no final decision be taken on approval or disapproval till final decision”.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Pharmacy Council, said that the moratorium was imposed due to the mushrooming of pharmacy colleges, which are in reality "industries" disguised as institutions.
Responding to the counsel for the colleges' statement that they have lost three years due to the moratorium, Mehta replied,” The objectionable part is that colleges are saying we lost three years. I can understand students saying so but not colleges which are industries.”
The Supreme Court was hearing petitions against a Delhi High Court judgement that lifted a five-year restriction on the establishment of new pharmacy colleges beginning in the academic year 2020-21.
According to the high court, a statutory body must trace the basis of its power to a legislative provision, and the exercise of executive authority by PCI in the current case was outside its powers and hence cannot be supported.
The decision was reached after hearing 88 writ petitions challenging the moratorium and its exceptions. The applicants were entities who wanted to establish pharmacy colleges and hence need prior clearance from the PCI. The moratorium did not apply to government institutions, institutions in the northeast, or states or union territories with less than 50 D.Pharm and B.Pharm institutions.
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