2017 Supreme(SC) 642

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
JAGDISH SINGH KHEHAR, CJI., N.V. RAMANA, D.Y. CHANDRACHUD, JJ.
Ranjan Sinha & Another - Appellants
Versus
Ajay Kumar Vishwakarma & Others - Respondents
Civil Appeal No. 8121 of 2004
Decided On : 03-07-2017

IMPORTANT POINTS
“Register” u/s 2(h) connotes both First Register as well as subsequent register.
Only those persons who possess qualification prescribed by Education Regulations are eligible to be entered in the register of the pharmacists.
Reorganized States do not usually start as tabula rasa, rather they are successors of a pre-existing erstwhile States.
If the laws in force were to lapse on the appointed day, the newly created State would be rendered a State without laws.
First Register prepared by the Bihar has the force of law u/s 2(f).

Headnote:Civil Appeal No. 8121 of 2004

       (a) Pharmacy Act, 1948 – Section 2 (h) – “Register” – Means a register of pharmacists prepared and maintained under Chapter IV – It connotes both First Register as well as subsequent register. (Para 15)

       (b) Pharmacy Act, 1948 – Section 32 (2) – Only those persons who possess qualification prescribed by Education Regulations are eligible to be entered in the register of the pharmacists. (Para 18)

       (c) Pharmacy Act, 1948 – Sections 31 and 32 – Qualifications prescribed for entering the name of the pharmacists in the First Register – Different from qualifications prescribed for entering the name of the pharmacist in the subsequent register, after coming into force of Education Regulations – Sections 30 and 31 intended to be effective and enforceable only till the Central Council makes Education Regulations – Qualifications mentioned in Section 31 would be of no relevance at the time of subsequent registration under Section 32 and after the promulgation of Education Regulations. (Para 21)

       (d) Bihar Reorganization Act, of 2000 – Section 84 – Legal fictions – First, a law made by Bihar shall be applicable to all the territories of erstwhile State of Bihar including the territories of State of Jharkhand even after reorganization – Second, until Jharkhand provides for it by way of amendment or otherwise, territorial reference in any law to the Bihar shall mean all the territories in the Bihar before reorganization. (Para 29)

       (1976) 3 SCC 242; (1987) 2 SCC 439; (1996) 7 SCC 47; (2004) 6 SCC 689 – Relied upon

       (e) Constitution of India – Article 3 – Parliament can alter, amend, amalgamate, form new States, diminish or increase area of a State – Reorganized States do not usually start as tabula rasa, rather they are successors of a pre-existing erstwhile States. (Para 36)

       (f) Bihar Reorganization Act, of 2000 – Sections 84 and 85 – If the laws in force were to lapse on the appointed day, the newly created State would be rendered a State without laws – Therefore, Sections 84 and 85 have been enacted to maintain continuity, and at the same time authorizing the States to make such modifications and adaptations as are considered necessary by mere issuance of orders within two years, and thereafter by legislation. (Para 36)

       (g) Bihar Reorganization Act, of 2000 – Section 2(f) r/w sections 84 and 85 – Law – Includes `other instruments having the force of law' – Held, First Register prepared by the Bihar has the force of law u/s 2(f) – State of Bihar precluded from preparing the First Register again – Therefore State of Jharkhand equally not entitled to prepare the First Register again. (Para 37, 38)

       (h) Bihar Reorganization Act, of 2000 – Sections 84 and 85 – Jharkhand not amending the law – Held, First Register prepared by erstwhile Bihar will be deemed and continues to be the First Register for Jharkhand – Jharkhand, however, not prohibited to take up subsequent registration as per Sections 32, 32A and 32B of Pharmacy Act, 1948 – In such an event Education Regulations as amended from time to time by the Pharmacy Council of India will have to be followed. (Para 41)

       (i) Bihar Reorganization Act, of 2000 – Sections 84, 85 and 86 r/w sections 31 and 32(2), Pharmacy Act, 1948 – All pharmacists in the First Register of pharmacist for the former State of Bihar, whose residential address fall in the territory of State of Jharkhand, shall be construed to be part of First Register of Jharkhand – Future inclusion of additional names in the Register is to be made strictly in terms of Section 32 (2). (Para 42)

       Civil Appeal No. 8382 of 2017

       (j) Pharmacy Act, 1948 – Section 31 and 32(2) r/w Sections 30 and 34, Madhya Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2000 – First Register prepared by the erstwhile State of Madhya Pradesh deemed First Register of State of Chhattisgarh – Therefore there cannot be any prohibition for the Pharmacy Council of Chhattisgarh to undertake renewal under Section 32(2) or as per law. (Para 53)

       Facts of the case:

       This case revolves round the complexities faced by the State of Jharkhand and applicability of laws, framed by the erstwhile State of Bihar, to the newly bifurcated State by means of Bihar Reorganization Act, of 2000. In this Civil Appeal the Court is called upon to determine the scope of Sections 30, 31 and 32 of Pharmacy Act, 1948 and it's applicability to the new State after 15.11.2000.

       After the bifurcation, Jharkhand constituted Registration Tribunal under Section 30 of the Act on 12.11.2001. The said Tribunal published notification on 14.01.2002 inviting applications for registration of pharmacists in the State of Jharkhand.

       Three diploma holders in pharmacy from the recognized institutions and registered as pharmacists filed Writ Petition praying for writ in the nature of certiorari to quash the press notification dated 14.01.2002 and for a writ in the nature of mandamus to Registration Tribunal, Ranchi, the Respondent No. 6 herein, to register only such persons, as pharmacists, who have requisite qualifications in terms of the Education Regulations, 1991.

       A division bench of the High Court came to the conclusion that Education Regulations, applicable to the erstwhile Bihar, are law for the new State of Jharkhand in terms of Sections 84 and 85 of the BROA and therefore unless a person is qualified as per Education Regulations, cannot get himself registered.

       Finding of the Court:

       New States cannot prepare First Register. Names can be subsequently added in terms of section 32(2)

       Result : Appeals disposed of.