HC waives Rs 30 Lakh Seat-Leaving Penalty, Orders Medical College to Return Doctor's Documents
Madhya Pradesh High Court
Bhopal: Granting relief to a doctor who left her postgraduate medical course midway, the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court directed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (NSCB) Medical College, Jabalpur, to return her documents without charging the Rs 30 lakh seat-leaving bond penalty.
"The respondent No.3 is directed to return the original documents along with No Objection Certificate to the petitioner on due acknowledgement and the same shall remain subject to final outcome of the writ petition," ordered the HC bench comprising Chief Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Vivek Jain.
The High Court bench issued the order while considering the case of a Postgraduate student from Bhopal, Dr. Nisha Singh Rawat. After clearing the postgraduate medical entrance test, Dr. Rawat was allotted a microbiology seat at NSCB Medical College, Jabalpur for the academic session 2023-2024.
However, as per the latest media report by Free Press Journal, due to her father's death, Dr. Rawat has to discontinue her studies to take care of her mother in Bhopal. Currently, the doctor wishes to rejoin as a demonstrator in the Department of Community Medicine at Gandhi Medical College (GMC), Bhopal.
When the doctor approached NSCB Medical College for her documents, the college demanded Rs 30 lakh as per the seat-leaving bond penalty rule. The counsel for the doctor, Senior Advocate Aditya Sanghi, argued that the bond serves little purpose now since the number of PG medical seats have increased significantly and many such seats remain vacant. He also contended that the issue of seat-blocking is only relevant during counselling and not after admission deadlines have passed.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that in August last year, the 'National Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being of Medical Students', set up by the National Medical Commission (NMC) opined in its report that seat-leaving bonds and compulsory rural service bonds should be abolished. As an alternative to the seat-leaving bond, the Task Force has suggested prohibiting such students from applying to medical colleges for twenty-four months from the date of leaving.
NMC Anti-Ragging Committee had set up the National Task Force to study existing literature and data on the mental health of medical students and propose evidence-based strategies for improving the same.
Consequently, on June 15, 2024, the Madhya Pradesh Government issued an order stating that no bond amount would be charged for students leaving postgraduate seats. However, the order is applicable prospectively i.e., only for students admitted in 2024 and onwards.
Recently, the MP HC had granted relief to a doctor facing similar problems. The said doctor had to leave his postgraduate studies midway after the violence erupted in Manipur. While considering his plea, the MP High Court had directed Bundelkhand Medical College to return the original documents to him within 7 days.
