Allahabad HC: Subsidised PG doctors must honour service bond
Allahabad High Court rules that doctors with subsidised PG education cannot escape the compulsory government service bond; orders fresh counselling for one petitioner.
The Allahabad High Court has ruled that doctors who receive postgraduate medical education at government institutions at subsidised rates remain bound by the compulsory government service bond attached to their admission.
A Division Bench of Justice Shekhar B. Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary, sitting in Lucknow, held that the two-year service requirement exists to ensure doctors are available in government hospitals and to protect patients' right to life. The Bench observed that a mere administrative delay in granting a posting would not, on its own, dissolve the bond obligation.
The ruling came on a petition by Dr. Aparupa Sen Gupta, who completed her MD in Transfusion Medicine at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow. She argued that because the government did not provide her a posting within three months of finishing her course, her two-year bond should be treated as lapsed.
The Court rejected that claim. It noted that Dr. Sen Gupta had obtained a no-objection certificate to pursue a Post Doctoral Certificate Course (PDCC), which expressly stated that the period spent on the course would not count towards her bond service. It also found no provision in Uttar Pradesh law under which a failure to provide a posting within three months automatically discharges a doctor from the bond.
At the same time, the Bench faulted the way Dr. Sen Gupta was denied a chance to take part in counselling for bond service. The counselling notification of June 1, 2026, was intended for the 2022 batch of MD/MS candidates and the 2023 batch of diploma candidates, while the petitioner belonged to the 2021 batch.
The Court directed the Director General, Medical Education and Training, to hold fresh counselling for Dr. Sen Gupta and allow her to choose from vacancies in government medical colleges and teaching institutions recognised by the National Medical Commission. The State has been asked to complete the exercise within four weeks from Sunday, September 27, 2026.
The Bench further directed that the 89 days Dr. Sen Gupta worked as a senior resident at SGPGI after completing her PDCC be adjusted against her two-year compulsory government service bond. Until the fresh counselling is completed, she will continue to serve as a senior resident at SGPGI.