Govt Can Exclude Candidates With Higher Qualification From Post Requiring Lower Qualification: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday said that it is for the employer to determine the relevancy and suitability of qualifications, while upholding the constitutional validity of a provision in the Bihar Pharmacists Cadre Rules, 2014, which mandates 'diploma in pharmacy' as the minimum qualification for recruitment to the post of pharmacist in the state.

Affirming the Patna High Court's decision, a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma dismissed the plea filed by the B.Pharma/M. Pharma degree holders, who challenged their exclusion from the recruitment drive for 2,473 posts of Pharmacists in the State, merely because of not holding the essential eligibility requirement, i.e., Diploma in Pharmacy. 

The prescription of an eligibility criterion of 10+2 with a diploma in pharmacy by the state cannot be said to be "arbitrary or irrational", the court said.

“The state has articulated its rationale with reference to differences in course structure and the comparatively limited avenues of employment available to diploma holders," the court said.

“Thus, the decision of the state in making possession of a diploma an essential qualification for appointment cannot be said to be arbitrary."

“The state has merely identified a narrower catchment of candidates it considers most suitable for a particular purpose, from within the larger pool of registered pharmacists,” the bench said.

The apex court also said that questioning the state's wisdom or policy in prescribing the minimum eligibility requirements for a public post isn't covered by the scope of judicial review.

The top court said a pharmacist forms an integral part of the public health delivery system.

“In government hospitals, dispensaries and primary health centres, the pharmacist is entrusted with responsibilities relating to storage, dispensing and management of medicines, adherence to prescription protocols, maintenance of drug inventories, patient counselling and compliance with regulatory requirements. The public places great trust in the knowledge, skills and professional judgments of pharmacists,” the bench said.