State cannot arbitrarily deny NOC for college affiliations without statutory backing.

1. In all these writ petitions, the petitioners are Institutions / Trusts running Pharmacy Colleges, imparting B. Pharm and D. Pharm Courses. The issue involved in these writ petitions is as regards non - issuance of No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the State of Kerala for the D. Pharm Courses of the petitioners and consequential refusal by the Director of Medical Education, the examining body, to affiliate the D. Pharm Courses of the petitioners, which in turn ousted the Colleges from the Centralised Allotment Process (CAP) conducted by the LBS Centre for Science and Technology on behalf of the Government of Kerala and the Director of Medical Education (DME).

2. The academic years in issue are 2019 - "20 and 2020 - "21. When these writ petitions came up for admission, this Court passed interim orders directing that the petitioners - Colleges be included in the Centralised Allotment Process and to register the students in the petitioners - Colleges for the D. Pharm Courses for the academic years provisionally and pending disposal of the writ petitions.

3. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has granted approval for the D. Pharm Courses conducted by the petitioners for the relevant academic years. The Pharmacy Council of India has also granted approval. The approval is granted after due inspection of the institutions and after ascertaining that the petitioners - Colleges have requisite infrastructure, faculty and other mandatory requirements as laid down by the PCI. However, the DME did not grant affiliation to the D. Pharm Courses and insisted for an NOC from the State Government as a condition for affiliation.

4. The Board of D. Pharm Examinations under the DME has addressed a Circular No.B7/6160/2021 / DME dated 30.09.2021 (Ext.P8 in WPC No.22673/2021) to the Principals of the Medical and Pharmacy Colleges requiring to submit the following documents for registration of D. Pharm students for the 2020 Admission:
"1. List of whole candidates concerned in alphabetic order.
2. SSLC and Plus Two certificates (Both Original) of whole candidates, neatly filed in alphabetic order.
3. Fee chalan receipts for the whole candidates.
4. Copy of consent of affiliation from the Examining authority for the D. Pharm course in your institution.
5. Copy of approval letter from PCI for the conduct of D. Pharm course in your institution for the year 2020-2021.
6. Copy of NOC from the Government of Kerala for starting the D. Pharm course in your institution."
The petitioners are aggrieved by the insistence on NOC from the Government of Kerala for starting D. Pharm Course.

5. The petitioners contend that insistence on NOC from State Government is uncalled for. A similar demand for NOC raised by the Kerala University of Health Sciences for affiliation of B. Pharm Course was found to be untenable by this Court in the judgment in WP(C) No. 17685/2018 (Ext.P3 in WP(C) No. 12297/2020). The DME has to conduct inspection of the Colleges and complete the process of affiliation of the D. Pharm Course. For the said purpose, an NOC from the State Government is not a legal requirement, contended the petitioners.

6. The State of Kerala adopted their statement filed in WP(C) No.9264/2020 to defend the writ petitions. According to the State of Kerala, approval by Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) is only a permission granted to the petitioners to approach the State Board of Pharmacy Education, which is the affiliating and examining body. In Parshwanath Charitable Trust and others v. AICTE and others ( 2013 (3) SCC 385 ), the Apex Court had fixed t