Apex Court Sets Ambiguity to Rest, Clears Way for Admissions Till 30 October on Plea filed by FSFTI President Dr. Anshu Kataria.
Supreme Court order brings relief to around 4000 pharmacy colleges and thousands of students with a fresh admission deadline
26 September 2026
The Supreme Court of India has directed the PCI to comply with the Order dated 15.07.2026 passed in MA No. 1976 of 2026 whereby the relief was granted for extended admission schedule for Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) courses.
The application (Misc. Appln. Diary No. 56441/2026) was filed by Dr. Anshu Kataria, President Federation of Self Financing Technical Institutions (FSFTI), All India and Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA), and Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges.
Dr. Kataria mentioned that FSFTI moved the Court to clear ambiguity after several colleges and universities enforced early cut-off dates of 14 or 15 September 2026. The Supreme Court’s decision reaffirms its 15 July 2026 directive (passed in MA No. 1976 of 2026 in Civil Appeal No. 9048 of 2012), ensuring that seats in pharmacy programs do not go waste and can be filled up to October 30.
While the Bench disposed of the fresh application, it did so by clearly directing the authority to comply with the Court’s own earlier order dated 15 July 2026 (passed in MA No. 1976 of 2026 in Civil Appeal No. 9048 of 2012) — the very order that had extended the PCI admission process to 30 October 2026.
It is pertinent to mention that Dr. Kataria and PUCA have consistently pursued admission deadline extensions before the Hon’ble Supreme Court during previous academic sessions. On PUCA petitions, admission deadlines for technical courses were extended to October 30 in 2025, October 23 in 2024 and October 30 in 2023. In 2022, admissions were permitted until October 25 for first-year courses and October 30 for lateral-entry programmes.
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