D.Pharm To Remain Minimum Qualification To Become Pharmacist in Bihar: Patna HC

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Partha Sarthy dismissed a batch of writ petitions—including one filed by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI)—which had challenged the rule for allegedly excluding B.Pharm and M.Pharm degree holders from eligibility. The common judgment was pronounced in CWJC No. 313/2025 and connected cases.

Background: PCI and Pharmacy Graduates Challenge BTSC Recruitment

The litigation arose from Advertisement No. 22/2025, issued by the Bihar Technical Service Commission (BTSC) on March 10, 2025, inviting applications for the post of Pharmacist. The advertisement specified that only those with Diploma in Pharmacy from a government-recognized institution were eligible. B.Pharm and M.Pharm degree holders were eligible only if they also possessed a D.Pharm.

The petitioners—comprising several qualified B.Pharm and M.Pharm holders registered with the Bihar State Pharmacy Council, along with the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI)—approached the Patna High Court to challenge Rule 6(1) of the Bihar Pharmacists Cadre Rules, 2014. The impugned rule stated that only candidates who had successfully completed all parts of the Diploma in Pharmacy course from a government-recognized institution were eligible for appointment as Pharmacists in the State Health Department.

The petitioners contended that this eligibility criterion was inconsistent with the Pharmacy Practice Regulations, 2015, framed by the PCI under Section 10 of the Pharmacy Act, 1948, which recognize both Diploma and Bachelor’s degrees as valid qualifications to practice as pharmacists. They argued that the rule was arbitrary and irrational, and amounted to a violation of Articles 14, 16, and 21 of the Constitution, by unfairly excluding better-qualified candidates from government employment.

The Pharmacy Council of India, in its own petition, asserted its exclusive authority to regulate pharmacist qualifications in India, claiming that the Bihar cadre rules were in conflict with central legislation and subordinate regulations issued under the Pharmacy Act.

Petitioners’ Arguments

1. D.Pharm-only eligibility was arbitrary and irrational.

2. PCI alone has authority to regulate pharmacist qualifications.

3. B.Pharm and M.Pharm holders should not be excluded solely for lacking a D.Pharm.

“It serves no legitimate State interest in excluding persons with higher qualification in the same line/channel of education, from the recruitment process without any basis.”

The High Court rejected the petitioners’ arguments, emphasizing that State governments are competent to prescribe qualifications for public employment.

"The prescriptions of course study for Pharmacist under the Pharmacy Act of 1948 and the Regulations of 2015, referred to above, are only with respect to the eligibility of such graduates, postgraduates and diplomates to practice Pharmacy, subject to their registration with the respective Pharmacy Councils of States but that does not pertain to the matters of recruitment, which are in the exclusive domain of the appropriate Governments".

The Court found no constitutional infirmity in allowing B.Pharm and M.Pharm holders to apply only if they also possess a D.Pharm:

“There is no exclusion of graduate degree holders provided they possess the basic qualification of Diploma in Pharmacy. Under such circumstances, it cannot be said that the impugned cadre rules has saddled graduates/post-graduates in Pharmacy to any disproportionate harm. It has also been decided on several occasions that B. Pharma and M. Pharma are not in the same channel of education as that of diplomates, notwithstanding the fact that the diplomates can take lateral entry in B. Pharma course in its second year".”

“No doubt, graduate and post-graduate degrees in Pharmacy are higher qualification but when the essential/minimum qualification of Diploma in Pharmacy has been fixed in the cadre rules, it cannot be tinkered with only on the ground of the same not being wise or sound or as suggested, arbitrary.”

On the argument that D.Pharm and B.Pharm are part of the same stream;

“It has also been decided on several occasions that B. Pharma and M. Pharma are not in the same channel of education as that of diplomates, notwithstanding the fact that the diplomates can take lateral entry in B. Pharma course in its second year.”

Court Rebukes PCI’s Intervention in Recruitment

The Court took exception to the PCI’s attempt to influence recruitment criteria;

“We have found the request made to the Bihar Technical Service Commission by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) to be totally unwarranted.”

It clarified that while PCI regulates qualifications for registration and professional practice, the prescription of minimum eligibility for public employment is the prerogative of the State.

"The Government, in its wisdom, has found that course curriculum of Diploma in Pharmacy is different from what it is for graduate degrees. The experience has shown that diplomates are better suited for health services. Could this be questioned by the Courts? As has rightly been pointed out by the learned Advocate General, the very fact that diplomates have no other avenue of appointments and that they have undergone the intensive training in hospital-care, are some of the indices on which the rules are is said to have been made."

The Court noted that D.Pharm holders are trained for hospital-care and public health, whereas B.Pharm and M.Pharm graduates are industry-oriented.

Concluding the matter, the Court upheld the BTSC recruitment criteria and the amended cadre rules:

“Thus, finding that the fixation of minimum qualification for recruitment of Pharmacist and the ‘note’ in the cadre rules providing that holders of higher degree could apply but subject to their having obtained the minimum qualification of diploma is neither arbitrary or exclusionary per se... For the afore-noted reasons all the petitions fail. All the writ petitions are disposed of accordingly.”

To view the original judgement, click on the link below: