Doctors who receive postgraduate medical qualifications at subsidised fees in state-run institutions cannot bypass their compulsory public service commitments because of departmental delays in assigning postings, the Allahabad High Court has ruled.
A Lucknow bench comprising Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary held on Monday that the two-year mandatory service obligation remains intact despite administrative holdups. The court highlighted that the bond requirement serves a vital public purpose by ensuring state hospitals maintain sufficient medical personnel to safeguard citizens’ right to life.
Rejection Of Lapsed Bond Claim
The ruling was delivered on a petition filed by Dr Aparupa Sen Gupta, who completed an MD in Transfusion Medicine at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow. Sen Gupta asked the court to declare her two-year bond invalid, contending that state officials had failed to issue her an official posting within three months of finishing her degree.
The division bench turned down her plea, stating that no statutory provision in Uttar Pradesh permits the automatic discharge of a doctor from bond commitments if an appointment is delayed beyond a three-month window. The judges also observed that Sen Gupta had secured a government-issued no-objection certificate to undertake a Post Doctoral Certificate Course, which explicitly specified that time dedicated to that program would not be credited toward her mandatory service.
Remedy For Exclusion From Placement Counselling
While confirming that the petitioner remained bound to complete her term, the court faulted state health authorities for barring her from the placement allocation process. A counselling notification issued on June 1, 2026, was restricted to 2022-batch MD and MS graduates and 2023-batch diploma holders, leaving out Sen Gupta, who belonged to the 2021 postgraduate batch.
To rectify the administrative exclusion, the bench directed the Director General of Medical Education and Training to conduct a fresh counselling round specifically for the petitioner. Under this order, she must be permitted to select from available vacancies in state medical colleges and teaching facilities accredited by the National Medical Commission. The court set a four-week deadline from September 27, 2026, for the state to conclude the exercise.
Credit For Completed SGPGI Senior Residency
The court also granted partial relief concerning her accumulated working time, ordering authorities to deduct the 89 days she served as a senior resident at SGPGI following her certificate course from her two-year bond obligation.
Until the fresh counselling and posting procedures are finalized, Sen Gupta will continue serving in her senior resident post at SGPGI, the bench ordered.
