Doctors cannot evade govt service bond after subsidized PG medical education: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that doctors who receive postgraduate medical education at subsidized rates in government institutions remain bound by compulsory government service obligations linked to their admission.

A bench of Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary in Lucknow held that the two-year government service requirement serves the public interest by ensuring the availability of doctors in government hospitals and safeguarding patients’ right to life.

The court clarified that an administrative delay in assigning a posting does not automatically cancel a doctor’s service bond.

The ruling came in a petition filed by Dr Aparupa Sen Gupta, who completed her MD in Transfusion Medicine from Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI), Lucknow.

Sen Gupta argued that her two-year compulsory government service bond should be considered expired because the state government did not provide her with a posting within three months of completing her course.

The court did not accept the argument. It noted that Sen Gupta had obtained a no-objection certificate from the government to pursue a Post-Doctoral Certificate Course (PDCC).

The certificate expressly stated that the period spent pursuing the additional course would not be counted toward her compulsory bond service, according to the court order.

The bench also observed that Uttar Pradesh law does not contain any provision under which a doctor is automatically released from a government service bond if a posting is not provided within three months.

However, the court found a procedural issue in the way Sen Gupta was excluded from counselling for compulsory bond service.

According to the order, the counselling notification issued on June 1, 2026, covered candidates from the 2022 batch of MD/MS courses and the 2023 batch of diploma courses. Sen Gupta belonged to the 2021 batch and therefore could not participate under the notification.

The court directed the Director General of Medical Education and Training, Uttar Pradesh, to organize fresh counselling for Sen Gupta. She must be allowed to select from vacancies available at government medical colleges and teaching institutions recognized by the National Medical Commission, the order said.

The bench gave the state four weeks from Sept 27, 2026, to complete the counselling process and related exercise.

The court also ordered that the 89 days Sen Gupta had already worked as a senior resident at SGPGI after completing her PDCC course be counted toward the two-year compulsory government service bond.

Until the fresh counselling is completed, Sen Gupta will continue working as a senior resident at SGPGI, the bench directed.