Madras HC raps govt for withholding certificates of doctors, orders to ensure immediate bond service postings

Chennai: Expressing concern over delayed bond service postings, the Madras High Court has recently slammed the Government for forcing super speciality and post graduate doctors to be idle by withholding their educational certificates.

The HC bench comprising Justice R. Subramanian also took note of the fact that the State Health Department of Tamil Nadu is neither offering government jobs to doctors who need to fulfill two-year bond service conditions after passing out of the government medical colleges, nor releasing their educational certificates. Therefore, these doctors are not even able to pursue higher education or get private jobs.

Terming this to be a crime, the HC bench observed, "Being doctors, holding super speciality degrees and post graduate degrees, forcing them to be idle, in my opinion, is a crime. It is high time the government evolves a system to accommodate these doctors who are obliged to serve the government on bond immediately after completion of their respective courses."

"I do not think, it will be difficult for the government to devise such a procedure by which these medical graduates, who are under an obligation to serve the government, could be accommodated appropriately," further noted the bench.

These observations came from the bench while considering a batch of six pleas filed by a group of doctors who prayed to the court for a direction to the government medical colleges to return their educational certificates so that they could take up private jobs.

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It was noted by the court that one of the petitioners had completed her post-graduation degree back in May 2021. Therefore the bench noted that even if the government calls upon her today to join the bond service posting, she could only be asked to serve the State Government only for a period of 6 months since already 19 months had passed from the date of completion of the course.

As per the latest media report by The Hindu, referring to the division bench order where it had been observed that retention of educational certificates was incorrect, the HC bench of Justice R. Subramanian ordered the State Government to return the educational certificates of the petitioner doctors after obtaining undertakings from them to honour the bond period when the government calls upon them. 

In this regard, the petitioner doctors have been directed by the court to submit their permanent residential address and current address to the government.

The HC bench has also acknowledged the fact that the government spends a lot of money to provide medical education and especially postgraduate medical education to students enrolled in the government medical institutes. These students need to pay a little amount of money as fees.

Therefore, obtaining bonds from these students, to agree to serve government hospitals for two years after completion of their course, might be justifiable but the practice of retaining their original certificates and forcing them to remain idle without offering them jobs at government institutions could be avoided, opined the bench.

Earlier this year, Medical Dialogues had reported that providing relief to around 25 PG doctors, whose original certificates had been retained by the medical colleges on the ground that they had not completed their bond terms, the Madras High Court bench had clarified that unfulfilled bond conditions cannot be the sole ground for withholding original education certificates of students.

Therefore, issuing a direction to the medical colleges and the State Directorate of Medical Education to return back the documents, the bench comprising of Justice GR Swaminathan had noted, "It is well settled that an Educational certificate is not a marketable commodity, therefore, there cannot be exercise of any lien in terms of Section 171 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. It has been held in catena of cases that management cannot retain the certificates of the students."

Also Read: Medical Degree Certificate not Marketable Commodity, cannot be withheld for unfulfilled bond terms: HC