Lucknow: A Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court has held that doctors who pursue postgraduate medical education in govt institutions at subsidised rates cannot evade the mandatory service bond attached to their admission, ruling that administrative delay in posting does not extinguish the obligation.A bench of Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary said the requirement of two years’ compulsory govt service is intended to ensure the availability of doctors in public hospitals and to safeguard patients’ right to life. The court said a lapse by the administration in issuing a posting order within a particular time frame cannot, by itself, be treated as cancelling a bond executed as a condition of admission.The observation came on a petition filed by Aparupa Sen Gupta, who completed MD (Transfusion Medicine) from Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences Lucknow. She argued that since govt did not provide her a posting within three months of completion of her course, her two-year compulsory service bond should be treated as having lapsed.Rejecting the plea, the bench noted that Gupta had obtained a no-objection certificate to pursue a PDCC course, and the permission explicitly stated that time spent on the course would not be counted towards bond service. The court also found no provision in Uttar Pradesh under which failure to provide a posting within three months automatically discharges a doctor from the bond.At the same time, the bench faulted the process by which she was denied participation in counselling for bond service. It said the June 1, 2026, counselling notification was for the 2022 batch of MD/MS candidates and the 2023 batch of diploma candidates, while the petitioner belonged to the 2021 batch.The court directed the Director General, Medical Education and Training, to hold fresh counselling for Gupta and allow her to choose from vacancies in govt medical colleges and teaching institutions recognised by the National Medical Commission. The state was told to complete the exercise within four weeks from Sept 27.It also ordered that the 89 days she worked as a senior resident at SGPGI after completing the PDCC be adjusted against her two-year bond. Pending counselling, she will continue as a senior resident at SGPGI.
