SC Slams Pharmacy Council of India over Arbitrary Rejection of Approvals to Pharma Colleges

New Delhi: The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) was recently at the receiving end of the Supreme Court's rebuke in the backdrop of several litigations being launched against the Council by pharma colleges over the issue of approval.

Observing that specialist bodies like the PCI must act responsibly, a division bench of the Apex Court comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih remarked, "Having looked at the facts in all these cases we are of the view that the time has come for bodies like the Pharmacy Council of India, which are supposed to be the experts in the field of specialty education, to act with due diligence. It is only due to total lack of discretion and arbitrary exercise of powers that this Court is flooded with petitions challenging the orders of the Pharmacy Council of India."

The Court rejected the matter of PCI revoking the approval of certain institutes and directed the registrar to send a copy of the order to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to avoid "such unwarranted litigation" in the future.

Such directions were issued by the top court bench while considering a batch of 14 pleas filed by pharma colleges. In one of the cases, the petitioner institute received PCI permission to extend the D. Pharma course, subject to inspection throughout the year. However, within a few months, the Council revoked the approval on the ground that the concerned institute had not submitted its satisfactory compliance with respect to various factors.