The Supreme Court (SC) on September 15 said the right to establish educational institutions is a fundamental right but reasonable restrictions can be imposed by the state only by law, and not an executive instruction.
Key points
- A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and P.S. Narasimha said: “Since we have held that the right to establish an educational institution is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India, reasonable restrictions on such a right can be imposed only by a law and not by an executive instruction.”
- The apex court upheld the various high court verdicts and dismissed the appeal by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) challenging them.
- The SC judgment was passed in petitions filed by the Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) challenging orders of the High Courts of Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, whereby the moratorium issued by the Pharmacy Council of India on opening new colleges for 5 years was set aside.
- While refusing to uphold the executive direction imposing a blanket ban, the Supreme Court Bench stated that the Council is still free to refuse the application application filed for opening new colleges if there are already more than sufficient number of institutions in the concerned State.
- The Supreme Court Bench was of the view that at times it might be necessary to impose restrictions on opening of colleges in the larger interest of the public.
