HYDERABAD: The high court on Monday directed the Telangana Pharmacy Council to register all petitioners as pharmacists, subject to verification of their certificates. These certificates include Intermediate (vocational course) Medical Laboratory Technician and the bridge course certificate.
A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti was hearing a clutch of writ petitions filed by Mohammad Irfan Ansari and several others challenging the validity of a communication dated October 4, 2011, issued by the Pharmacy Council of India that MLT and the bridge course issued by the Board of Intermediate Education were not approved by it under Regulation 5(5) of the Education Regulations, 1991, for admission to the course of Diploma in Pharmacy.
The petitioners also sought a direction to the AP Pharmacy Council to register them as pharmacists based on the B. Pharmacy degree they obtained from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University.
Counsels appearing for the petitioners submitted that the controversy involved in these writ petitions was covered by a decision dated December 10, 2021, passed by a bench of the AP High Court in Andhra Pradesh Pharmacy Council Vs. N Krishna and others.
The petitioners argued that after completing the Intermediate (vocational) course, they were admitted to the BPharmacy course. Upon acquiring the degree, they contended they are entitled to be registered as pharmacists under the Pharmacy Act of 1948.
However, the Additional Solicitor General countered that Regulation 5(5) of the Education Regulations, 1991, provides specific qualifications for admission to a diploma in Pharmacy Part-I course. These include various science-related examinations and any other qualification approved by the Pharmacy Council of India as equivalent to those examinations.
After hearing the arguments, considering the facts in the batch writ petitions, and referencing a letter dated February 10, 2020, issued by the Pharmacy Council of India, the high court quashed the impugned communication.