The Rajasthan High Court has quashed the State Government’s order imposing a blanket ban on granting No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to private institutions seeking to start or establish B.Pharmacy courses, ruling that the move lacked legislative authority and violated Article 14 of the Constitution.

Justice Sunil Beniwal, delivering the judgment, held that the State’s decision was arbitrary, discriminatory, and devoid of legal backing, as no statutory provision under the Pharmacy Act, 1948 empowers the State to impose such a ban.

The case arose after the petitioner institution, which had applied for an NOC to start a B.Pharmacy course, was denied the same following a State order dated April 26, 2025, prohibiting the grant of NOCs to private colleges. Notably, government institutions were exempted from the ban and permitted to continue offering the course.

The petitioner argued that the order amounted to hostile discrimination against private colleges, violating Article 14, and was a colourable exercise of power, as the executive lacked legislative competence to impose such a restriction. It was also submitted that the State’s justification — preventing the “mushroom growth” of unemployed B.Pharm graduates — was unsupported by empirical data.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Pharmacy Council of India v. Rajeev College of Pharmacy & Ors., the Court noted that while the State may take policy decisions, it cannot act beyond the scope of its statutory authority. A ban of this nature could only be imposed through legislation, not by an executive order.

“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 Court observed.

Justice Beniwal emphasised that since neither the Pharmacy Council of India nor the State Government possessed power under the Act to impose such a restriction, the impugned order was ultra vires and unsustainable in law.

The Court also underscored the arbitrary nature of the selective ban, pointing out that allowing government or private universities to establish B.Pharmacy institutions while denying the same opportunity to private colleges created unequal treatment without justification.

Holding the action to be irrational and discriminatory, the Court directed the State to issue the necessary NOC to the petitioner if all other prescribed conditions were satisfied.

Cause Title: Global Pharmacy College v. The State of Rajasthan & Ors.