Chattisgarh High Court
Rahul Verma vs The Union Of India 77 Wps/5329/2018 ... on 20 August, 2018
Author: Prashant Kumar Mishra
Bench: Prashant Kumar Mishra
NAFR
HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH, BILASPUR
WPC No. 2009 of 2018
1. Rahul Verma S/o Shri Mahesh Kumar Verma, Aged About 32
Years R/o C/o Murli Verma, Beside Aashirwad Hospital,
Danganiya, Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur,
Chhattisgarh
2. Tarun Tripathi, S/o Shri M.L. Tripathi, Aged About 37 Years R/o B-
8, Sunflower, Nayapara, Chakarbhata, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur
Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh
3. Harishankar Sahu, S/o Shri R.P. Sahu, Aged About 33 Years R/o
Guru Vihar, Sarkanda, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur Chhattisgarh.,
District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh
4. Vaibhav Shastri S/o Rameschandra Shastri, Aged About 24 Years
R/o Baima Nagoi Road, Near Rama Green City, Bilaspur, District
Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh
5. Chhattisgarh Youth Pharmacist Association Through The
Secretary Vaibhav Shastri Aged 24 Years, S/o Rameshchandra
Shastri R/o Baima Nagoi Road, Near Rama Green City, Bilaspur,
District Bilaspur Chhattisgarh.
---- Petitioners
Versus
1. The Union Of India Through The Secretary, Department Of
Health And Family Welfare, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi., District :
New Delhi, Delhi
2. State Of Chhattisgarh, Through The Secretary, Department Of
Health And Family Welfare, Capital Complex, New Raipur, District
Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh
3. National Health Mission Through Mission Director, 4th Floor, C.G.
Housing Board, Vyavsaik Parisar, Sector 27, New Raipur, Raipur
Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh
---- Respondents
For Petitioner Shri Sudeep Johri, Advocate For Respondent No.1 Shri B. Gopa Kumar, ASG For Respondent No.2 Shri Shashank Thakur, GA For Respondent No.3 Shri C. J. K. Rao, Advocate Hon'ble Justice Mr. Prashant Kumar Mishra Order On Board 20/08/2018
1. Petitioners are Pharmacists. They are aggrieved by non inclusion of the pharmacists as the category of eligible candidates who can apply for admission in the Six Months Bridge Course (Certificate for Community Health for Nurses) for which the Directorate of Health Services, Chhattisgarh has issued an advertisement inviting applications from amongst the candidates, who have passed Nursing Course from the recognized University and are having live registration from the Chhattisgarh Nursing Council and also have experience of working as Nurse for a period of 2 years. The application was to be submitted in an online form available in the website of the Department of Health till 1 st of June, 2018. Thus, admittedly, the last date of filling of the form was already over much before the date on which the present writ petition was filed on 04.07.2018.
2. Shri Sudeep Johri, learned counsel for the petitioners, would draw attention of the Court to para 11.4 of the National Health Policy, 2017, which provides that the subject Bridge Course could admit graduates from different clinical and para medical backgrounds like AYUSH doctors, B.Sc. Nurses, Pharmacists, GNMs etc. According to him, exclusion of the pharmacists violates the National Health Policy, therefore, the decision to exclude them is illegal, arbitrary and irrational.
3. A reading of para 11.4 of the Policy would highlight that the same is only an enabling provision giving example as to who could be admitted in the Bridge Course. Various categories of individuals have been mentioned by way of example without according any preference or mandating inclusion of all the categories as the eligible candidates who could apply for admission in the Bridge Course. It is settled law that the writ Court does not formulate a policy nor can direct the State Government to formulate a policy one way or the other.
4. Be that as it may, Shri Johri, learned counsel for the petitioner, would submit, at this stage, that since the date for filing the application is over, the petitioners may be permitted to withdraw the writ petition with liberty to pursue the representation for inclusion of the pharmacists as one of the eligible categories of persons for admission to the Bridge Course, whenever fresh advertisement is issued in future.
5. In view of the prayer made, the petitioners are permitted to withdraw the writ petition with liberty to pursue the matter before the Competent Authority.
6. Accordingly, the writ petition is dismissed as withdrawn, with the liberty as above.
Sd/-
Prashant Kumar Mishra Judge NIrala