C.W.P. No. 9946 of 2008 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P. No. 9946 of 2008 Decided on : 04-11-2008 Dr. Anoop Goel .......Petitioner VERSUS State of Punjab & others .....Respondents CORAM:-HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HEMANT GUPTA. HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NAWAB SINGH. Present:- Mr. Shubham Bhalla, Advocate for the petitioner. Ms. Ambica Luthra, AAG, Punjab for respondents No.1 to 4. Mr. Manoj Kumar, Advocate for respondent No.5. HEMANT GUPTA, J The petitioner has sought a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to admit the petitioner to the Post Graduate, MD/MS Course on the basis of the written examination, against the quota meant for in-service candidates. The petitioner is a qualified MBBS Doctor and was selected and appointed as Medical Officer in the Haryana Civil Medical Services w.e.f. 13.07.2004. The petitioner was posted at Primary Health Centre, Kot Mustarka (Rural Area) (for short 'PHC') from the date of his appointment. The petitioner appeared for entrance test to undergo Post Graduate Course of MD/MS in May, 2008. The petitioner ranked 20 in the list of selected candidates in the list of in-service candidates. However, the petitioner was not admitted as it was found that the petitioner is not eligible in view of the fact that he has not got five years' C.W.P. No. 9946 of 2008 -2- service under the State Government. The claim of the petitioner is that since he was appointed in PHC, therefore, in terms of a letter, Annexure P-4, issued to Dr. Varun Garg, one year's experience in the said PHC, is to be counted as two years' Rural experience. The petitioner has actual service of three years and 10 months, therefore, with the aforesaid experience in the rural area, he is eligible for admission as in-service candidate. In reply, it has been pointed out that vide Annexure P-4, Dr. Varun Garg was appointed in PHC, for the reason that the said post was lying vacant and as an incentive to Dr. Varun Garg, such condition was incorporated. It is pointed out that the petitioner was posted at PHC, in the year 2004 not on account of non-availability of suitable Medical Officer, therefore, no such incentive was meant for the Medical Officer including the petitioner. It has been argued that the present petitioner is not eligible as he has not completed five years of service under the State Government which alone would make him eligible for admission. The relevant clause, in respect of eligibility reads as under:- “Candidates keen to go in for higher studies for the P.G. Diploma/P.G. Degree Courses against the reserved seats will be required to apply for a “No Objection Certificate” to the competent authority before submitting their applications for admission to the said course. Only those candidates will be considered for NOC under this category who fulfill the following conditions. i) He/she must have completed the probation period C.W.P. No. 9946 of 2008 -3- successfully and completed 5 years service under the State Government including the probation period out of which three years service should be in rural area/service.” We have heared learned counsel for the parties. The petitioner cannot rely upon the stipulation contained in Annexure P.4 i.e. letter addressed to Dr. Varun Garg. The concession to Dr. Garg was personal in nature. There is no policy decision in respect of such benefit. But even if such benefit is deemed to be available to the petitioner, it will only mean that one year's experience in such PHC will be counted as two years' Rural experience. It means that three years' rural over experience required to be eligible for admission would be satisfied by working for two years in Rural area. It does not amount to relaxation in respect of 5 years of service under the State Government. The three years' rural experience is within 5 years of service under the State Government. As the petitioner has not completed five years of service under the State Government, therefore, the petitioner is not eligible to seek admission as an in-service candidate. In view of the said fact, we do not find any merit in the present writ petition. The same is dismissed . (Hemant Gupta) Judge 4th November 2008. (Nawab Singh) Monika Judge