The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the State Government, Director of Medical Education, and Commissioner of Health Services following a petition filed by a doctor challenging the imposition of a Rs 25 lakh penalty for his failure to complete five years of compulsory rural service. The doctor argued that the state authorities delayed his posting, leaving him disadvantaged in his medical career.

A division bench comprising Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf has taken cognizance of the matter and scheduled the next hearing for the week beginning January 13, 2025. The bench granted four weeks for the respondents to submit their reply and an additional two weeks for the petitioner to file a rejoinder.

In the petition, the doctor, a resident of Bhopal, claimed that he had signed a bond promising to serve in rural areas for five years after completing his MBBS. However, he alleged that he did not receive any posting for one and a half years following his graduation. When he was finally assigned a rural post in September 2024, he chose not to join, after which the authorities imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh.

The doctor’s counsel, Aditya Sanghi, argued that the delay in providing the posting was detrimental to his client’s career. The petitioner’s career progression, Sanghi stated, was hampered by a delay of 18 months, placing him behind his peers who graduated in the same year. He further contended that the penalty imposed was excessively high for an MBBS graduate and added that the state’s failure to provide timely posting had worsened the situation.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has reportedly raised the issue with the Madhya Pradesh government, requesting a review of the penalty amount. The matter also surfaced in Parliament, where concerns were expressed about the imposition of such a heavy penalty on a medical graduate.

The counsel for the petitioner criticized the penalty as being unjust, especially given the economic conditions in Madhya Pradesh. He argued that imposing such a large financial burden on a graduate contradicted the intent of the bond service scheme and the principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

Previous judgments have also highlighted similar issues concerning rural postings. In 2022, the Jabalpur Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court ruled that the conditions mentioned in the service bonds would be rendered void if postings were not provided within three months of graduation. The court, in that instance, directed Indore’s Mahatma Gandhi Medical College to return the original documents of a doctor who was not given a timely posting.

The High Court will further deliberate on the matter during the January 2025 hearing, with the respondents expected to justify the penalty and address the petitioner’s claims of delayed rural service assignment.

Madhya Predesh HC notice: https://pdf_upload/mp-hc-order-258621.pdf

(Input from various sources)

(Rehah/Ankur Deka/MSM)