 The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has announced an extension to the timeline for Executive Committee meetings for approval or deciding appeal cum compliances for approval process for pharmacy institutions for the year 2026-27, till August 31, 2026.
The Council has received approval from the Supreme Court of India to extend the schedule for completion of approval process for pharmacy institutions for the year 2026-27 till October 30, 2026, after it approached the Court with a miscellaneous application seeking an extension to the approval schedule, submitting that despite its diligent and timely efforts to complete the approval process, the same has been delayed "due to factors beyond its control."
The Council submitted that the unavoidable circumstances including delayed submission of Standard Inspection Form (SIF) by certain institutions, non availability of inspectors, refusal by some institutions to permit inspection at the first opportunity, conflicting schedules affecting the deputed inspectors, and delays in receipt of requisite documents has affected the already approved timeline for the year 2026-27.
It requested the Court that the Executive Meetings for approval or deciding appeal cum compliances, which has been scheduled to be completed on or before May 31 of each academic year to be extended to a time on or before August 31, 2026.
The last date for granting or refusing approval by the Universities or state government has been requested to be extended from the current June 15 to September 15. The conduct of entrance examination and declaration of result of qualifying examination and entrance examination, scheduled for May and June, respectively, are already completed or in process, it informed the Court.
The timeline for the first and second round of counselling or admission for allotment of seats, scheduled to be June 30 and July 10 as per the schedule already approved by the Court earlier, was proposed to be extended to September 25-30 and October 1-10, respectively.
The last date for admitting candidates in seats other than allotted already, which was to be completed on July 30, was sought to be extended to be completed on or before October 30. The commencement of academic session, which was scheduled to be on August 1, has been proposed for extension till October 15, and last date upto which students can be admitted against vacancies scheduled on August 15, to be extended to on or before October 30, sought the PCI.
If the extension is granted, the PCI shall strictly adhere to the extended schedule for this academic session and shall not seek any further extension for the academic session 2026-27, it submitted the Court. It also submitted an undertaking to continue the schedule prescribed by the Apex Court in its order on September 8, 2025, subject to such further orders as the Court may deem fit.
Considering the affidavit and the arguments of Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General of India on behalf of the Council, the division bench comprising Justice P S Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe said, "We deem it appropriate to allow the miscellaneous application in terms of the facts and circumstances explained therein. While allowing the application, the time is hereby extended to 31.08.2026."
"Consequently, the process shall be completed on or before 30.10.2026 as per the schedule indicated hereinabove. Ordered accordingly," said the Bench in an order dated July 15, 2026.
The Council, in its submission added that it is constrained by limited resources while processing an exceptionally large number of applications, each requiring scrutiny, inspection, consideration by the Executive Committee, and final decision.
Owing to these unavoidable administrative and logistical constraints, and the practical impossibility of engaging and training additional manpower within such a short period, several institutions are yet to complete the prescribed approval process, making it impossible for the Applicant to conclude the approval process for the Academic Session 2026-2027 by the cut-off date of June 30, 2026, it said.
The Council has already announced an extension of the time line for submission of SIF for the academic year, and some of the other processes.
In September 2025, the Council has announced revised time schedule, with the academic session to commence on August 1, and the last date up top which students can be admitted against vacancies fixed on August 15, following a favourable order from the Supreme Court.
The modified schedule, according to the latest circular, says that the institutions can register for issuance of PCI code for submission of application for the first time and submit the statutory documents throughout the year. If the documents of the institutions are found to be satisfactory by the Council, the institution will be allowed to submit the Standard Inspection Format (SIF) along with PERC as per the standards prescribed in the scheme formulated by the Council.
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