The State Government lacks authority to conduct inspections of Pharmacy institutions, which is expressly reserved for the Pharmacy Council of India under the Pharmacy Act, 1948.

ORDER :

S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR, J.

1. In this petition, petitioner seeks the following reliefs:

"WHEREFORE, it is prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to:

(a) Issue appropriate Writ, Order or Direction in the nature of Writ of Certiorari quashing the impugned order dated 12-3-2025 bearing No.Aa:OwAa/Yojane/58/2024-25, produced as ANNEXURE-A.

(b) Declare that the Chairman and the Inspection team constituted under his guidance and supervision is not competent to inspect the D Pharma Institutions as the same is in violation of the statutory enactments namely the Pharmacy Act and the Rules framed thereunder.

(c) Grant such other relief's as this Hon'ble Court would be pleased to grant in the circumstances of the case, in the interest of justice and equity."

2. Heard learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner, learned DSGI for respondent Nos.1 and 3 and learned HCGP for respondent Nos. 2 and 4 and perused the material on record.

3. In addition to reiterating the various contentions urged in the petition and referring to the material on record, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner invited my attention to the Pharmacy Act, 1948 and the Regulations framed thereunder in order to point out that insofar as inspection of the Colleges of the petitioner's Association are concerned, it is only, respondent No.3- Pharmacy Council of India, which would have power, jurisdiction and authority of law to conduct such inspection and respondent-State is neither authorized nor empowered to conduct such inspection. It is also pointed out that insofar as Nursing Colleges are concerned, this Court in the case of KARNATAKA STATE PRIVATE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION OF HEALTH INSTITUTIONS VS. STATE OF KARNATAKA IN W.P.NO.32106/2024 AND CONNECTED MATTER DECIDED ON 02.05.2025 came to the conclusion that the State Government did not have jurisdiction or authority of law to conduct inspection and it is only the Indian Nursing Council, Karnataka Nursing Council and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, who are entitled to conduct such inspection of all Colleges to which they are affiliated. It is, therefore, submitted that the impugned order passed by respondent-State directing inspection of the Colleges which are members of the petitioner's Association is illegal, arbitrary and without jurisdiction or authority of law and contrary to the provisions of the Pharmacy Act, 1948 and the Rules and Regulations made thereunder and the same deserves to be quashed.

4. Per contra, learned DSGI for respondent No.1- Union of India and respondent No. 3- Pharmacy Council of India, would submit that the State Government is not entitled to conduct inspection and it is a Pharmacy Council of India who would conduct inspection of all Pharmacy Colleges under Section 16 of the Pharmacy Act and appropriate orders may be passed in the present petition.

5. Learned HCGP on behalf of respondent Nos.2 and 4 would support the impugned order. It is submitted that since the requisite 'No Objection Certificate' has to be issued by the State Government before commencement of Pharmacy College, the respondent- State is entitled to conduct inspection and as such, there is no merit in the petition and the same is liable to be dismissed.

6. Before adverting to the rival contentions, it would be necessary to extract the relevant provisions of the Pharmacy Act, 1948. Section 16 and Section 26 -A read as under:

Section 16 :

"16. Inspection.- (1) The Executive Committee may appoint such number of Inspectors as it may deem requisite for the purposes of this Chapter.

(2) An Inspector may -

(a) inspect any institution which provides an approved course of study;

(b) attend at any approved examination;

(c) inspect any institution whose authorities have applied for