SC slams Private Medical College asking for bond from PG medicos, asks to return money with interest

New Delhi: Shocked with the fact that a private medical college in Madhya Pradesh was asking for bond from its Postgraduate medical students, the Supreme Court bench on Friday slammed the college and return the Rs 5 lakh bond amount with 8% annual interest to the doctor.

The Supreme Court division bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli further clarified in this regard that the private medical colleges cannot ask their students to execute bond of compulsory service after completion of education because these colleges charge huge amount of money from the students for course fees and do not offer any subsidy like the Government medical colleges.

Drawing a comparison between the private and government medical colleges, the bench was quoted stating by TOI, "The fees charged by the private medical colleges are far too high compared to those levied by government medical colleges. The governments highly subsidise the fees of medical students, hence it was understandable why the government medical colleges seek a bond. Moreover, the government hospitals, where these students are to work as per the bonds, are visited by poor patients. Absence of doctors in these government hospitals would cause disruption of health services."

The Court was considering a plea filed by Ujjain based R D Gardi Medical College, which had challenged the Madhya Pradesh High Court direction of returning the Rs 5 lakh bond penalty along with 8% annual interest to a doctor.

Dr Anshul Jain had deposited the amount to the college because she chose to work somewhere else after completing her post-graduation in Anesthesia from the concerned private medical college.

Also Read: Haryana MBBS Bond Policy: Protest escalates, doctors give three-day ultimatum to State to withdraw bond conditions

The latest media report by Times of India adds that after getting admitted to the PG Anaesthesia course in the college back in August 2014, Dr. Jain was appointed as a junior resident and was paid a stipend of Rs 30,000 per month. At the time of admission, she had been asked to execute a bond of serving at least one year as senior resident at the concerned private medical college after completion of PG and for this she had been promised a salary of Rs 40,000 per month.

Further, the bond condition required the doctor to pay Rs 5 lakh as penalty if she failed to serve the required one year of mandatory bond period. It was further stated that unless she paid the amount, her documents would remain withheld by the college authorities. 

The daily adds that since there was delay in her appointment as senior resident, the doctor had paid the Rs 5 lakh penalty amount and took her certificates from the college. However, challenging the decision of the college, the doctor filed a plea before the Madhya Pradesh High Court back in 2019 and sought a return of the bond amount. 

When she approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the HC bench had held back in 2020 that the action of the college refusing the original documents to the doctor till she deposited the bond penalty was "unsustainable in law". So, the college had been ordered by the court to return the amount with interest within 30 days. Challenging the decision of the High Court, the college had approached the Supreme Court bench seeking relief.

As per the recent media report by Live Law, at the very beginning of the case proceeding, the Chief Justice Chandrachud exclaimed by stating, "I was shocked. How can you ask for a bond? You are a private institution. Only the government can ask for a bond because they subsidise medical education, whereas a private medical college will charge crores of rupees. Therefore, they can say that after you complete your education, you can serve out a bond."

Responding to this, the counsel for the college tried to explain its stand and clarified "We are also charging only seven lakhs."

However, dissatisfied with the argument, the Chief Justice further remarked, "But, under what authority did you ask for the bond that she will pay five lakhs?"

Supplying a hasty rejoinder, the counsel for the college submitted, "This was a condition. She was given a choice."

Trying to give an explanation, the college's counsel submitted, "This was because, at the stage of senior residency, in a place like Ujjain, no one takes that post. That is the reason."

Disagreeing with the explanation, CJI Chandrachud categorically stated, "But you cannot do that. You have no power to demand a bond. You are not the government. The government can ask for a bond from medical students, and they do it from in-service doctors, because they are giving some benefits. They can say that you have to continue to serve our public hospitals."

Meanwhile, the counsel for the college referred to "procedural difficulties" and claimed that the order had been uploaded date. With this argument, the counsel for the college urged the top court bench to set aside the High Court's direction of paying an interest at the rate of 8% per year.

However, the Supreme Court bench did not agree and noted, "No, that will not be possible. The student is entitled to interest. The money has been wrongly kept."

Medical Dialogues has been reporting about the different issues and problems associated with the implementation of mandatory bond conditions in the medical colleges across the country. It should be mentioned in this context that amid the massive protests on stringent Bond service terms in Haryana and demands for uniformity across the country, the Union Health Ministry has decided to do away with the bond policy for doctors and is currently finalising guidelines based on the recommendations by the National Medical Commission (NMC).

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/supreme-court-private-medical-college-bond-191426.pdf

Also Read: 3 years Service Bond not applicable on doctors already employed under Central Govt, Holds High Court