Exhibit
      31.1 
  CERTIFICATION

|   | I, Chris Dick, certify that:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
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|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|1. | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2008 of Elite Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the registrant);                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
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|2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;                                                                            
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|3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;                                                                                               
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|4. | The registrants other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and
internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:                                                  
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|   | (a)     Designed
such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and
procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
which this report is being prepared;
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|   | (b)     Designed
such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control
over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable
assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation
of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles;       
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|   | (c)     Evaluated
the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure controls and procedures
and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based
on such evaluation; and                                                                                           
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|   | (d)     Disclosed in this
report any change in the registrants internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrants fourth fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is
  reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrants internal control
  over financial reporting.                                                                     
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|5. | The registrants other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrants auditors and the audit
committee of the registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):                                                                                       
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|   | (a)     All significant
deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control
over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
registrants ability to
  record, process, summarize and report financial information; and                                                                                                   
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|   | (b)     Any fraud, whether
or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant
role in the registrants internal control over financial reporting.                                                                                                                                                                                                    
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|Date: January 16, 2009 |  |                                        
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|                       |  | /s/ Chris Dick                         
|                       |  | Chris Dick, Chief Operating Officer and
|                       |  | Acting Chief Executive Officer         

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