Case: ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL SUPER SPECIALITY ASPIRANTS AND RESIDENTS Vs. UNION OF INDIA

and peace. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) recognizes the right of every person to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. ICESCR mandates the States Parties to achieve full realization of the aforementioned right through the creation of conditions which would assure to all, medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness, inter alia. 33. The above discussion leads us to the conclusion that right to life guaranteed by Article 21 means right to life with human dignity. Communitarian dignity has been recognised by this Court. While balancing communitarian dignity vis-à-vis the dignity of private individuals, the scales must tilt in favour of communitarian dignity. The laudable objective with which the State Governments have introduced compulsory service bonds is to protect the fundamental right of the deprived sections of the society guaranteed to them under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The contention of the Appellants that their rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India have been violated is rejected. Article 23 34. Article 23 reads as follows:23. ?(1) Traffic in human beings and begar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law. (2) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for public purposes, and in imposing such service the State shall not make any discrimination on grounds only of religion, race, caste or class or any of them.?35. The submission of Mr. Huzefa Ahmadi, learned Senior Counsel for the Appellants is that the conditions of the bond per se amount to ‘forced labour? and thus are violative of Article 23 (1) of the Constitution. Mr. Dwivedi expostulated the said submission by referring to Article 23 (2) which confers power on the State to impose compulsory service for public purpose. Reliance was placed upon the Constituent Assembly Debates by Mr. Dwivedi explaining the scope of compulsory employment for public purpose under Article 23 (2) of the Constitution of India. The Appellants who are required to work for a short period on a decent stipend cannot complain that they are made to perform ‘forced labour?, especially after the Appellants have taken an informed decision to avail the benefits of admission in government medical colleges and received subsidized education. By no means, the service rendered by the Appellants in Government hospitals would fall under the expression of ‘forced labour?. 36. The 13 th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude. The Supreme Court of the United States held that compulsory employment for public purpose does not amount to ‘involuntary servitude? in Robertson v. Baldwin (165 U.S. 275 (1897) [US Supreme Court]) and Butler v. Perry ((1916), 240 U.S. 328, 329). Article 23 (2) of the Constitution enables the State Governments to require the Appellants to do compulsory service in the Government hospitals which is undoubtedly for the benefit of the public. III. Contract of Personal Service 37. Section 14 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963 prohibits the enforcement of contracts of personal service. The submission of Mr. Ahmadi that the contract of personal service, in the form of a compulsory bond, is not enforceable was dealt with by Mr. Dwivedi, who argued that the State Governments do not intend to enforce the contract in a court of law. It is trite law that Courts do not ordinarily enforce performance of contracts of personal character, such as a contract of employment (Nandganj Sihori Sugar Co. Ltd. Rae Bareli & Anr. v. Badri Nath Dixit & Ors. (1991) 3 SCC 54 ).Reference can be made to the judgment of Jessel, M.R., in Rigby v. Connol (1880) 14 Ch D 482, 487 wherein he held that:?The courts have never dreamt of enforcing agreements strictly personal in their nature, whether they are agreements of hiring and service, being the common relation of master and servant ….?38. Specific performance of contract for personal service is not permissible under the Specific Relief Act, therefore, there cannot be a decree for specific performance of a contract of personal nature. None of the State Governments have made an attempt to enforce the contracts entered into by them with the Appellants through the service bonds. We are not in agreement with the submission of Mr. Ahmadi that the compulsory bonds fall foul of the Specific Relief Act. IV. Restraint on Profession 39. The argument advanced on behalf of the Appellants that compulsory bonds placed a restraint on their profession and thus, would be contrary to Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. The High Court of Calcutta repelled this submission by holding that the compulsory bond does not amount to any restraint on the professional activity of the Appellants. The High Court observed that the Appellants are offered the job of Medical Officer in the State of West Bengal and that the covenant in the compulsory bond operates only during the period of such employment. Relying upon the dictum of Lord Morris in Esso Petroleum v. Harper?s Garage (Stourport) Ltd., 1967 1 All ER 699 that if A made a contract under which he willingly agreed to serve B on reasonable terms for a few years and to give his whole working time to B, it would be surprising indeed, if it were sought to describe the contract as being in restraint of trade; in fact, such a contract would very likely be for the advancement of trade?, the High Court concluded that a contract entered into by Appellants to serve the government for a few years under reasonable terms cannot be described as one in restraint of trade. We are in agreement with the findings recorded by the High Court of Calcutta. Therefore, we are of the considered opinion that the conditions of compulsory bonds for admission to post-graduate and super-Speciality courses in government medical colleges are not in violation of Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]n of the StateEntry 66 of List I of the 7 th Schedule to the Constitution refers to coordination and determination of standards in institutions for higher education or research and scientific and technical institutions. Entry 25 of List III of the 7 th Schedule deals with education, including technical education, medical education and universities, subject to the provisions of entries 63, 64, 65 and 66 of List I. Legislations can be made by the State Legislature relating to medical education subject to the legislation made by the Parliament. The Medical Council of India Act governs the field of medical education in this country. Admittedly, there is no provision in the Medical Council of India Act touching upon the subject matter of compulsory bonds. Therefore, the States are free to legislate on the subject matter of medical bonds. Executive authority of the State Government is co-extensive with that of the legislative power of the State Legislature. Even in the absence of any legislation, the State Government has the competence to issue executive orders under Article 162 of the Constitution on matters over which the State legislature has the power to legislate. The Notifications issued by the State Governments imposing a condition of execution of compulsory bonds at the time of admission to post- graduate courses and super Speciality courses cannot be said to be vitiated due to lack of authority or competence. The field of bonds requiring compulsory employment is not covered by any Central Legislation. Therefore, the submissions made on behalf of the Appellants that the States lacked competence to issue the notifications as the field is occupied are rejected.Violation of Fundamentale all, the State Governments have taken into account the need to provide health care to the people and the scarcity of super specialists in their States. Consequently, a policy decision taken by the State Governments to utilize the services of doctors who were beneficiaries of Government assistance to complete their education cannot be termed arbitrary., we are in agreement with the learned counsel for the doctors that the period of compulsory service and the exit should be, the Notifications that were issued by the State Governments fall foul of Article 19(1)(g). The compulsory bond executed by the Appellants is at the time of their admissions into post-graduate and super Speciality courses. Conditions imposed for admission to a medical college will not directly violate the right of an individual to carry on his profession. The right to carry on the profession would start on the completion of the course. At the outset, there is no doubt that no right inheres in an individual to receive higher education. Violation of a right guaranteed under Article 19(1)(g) does not arise in a case pertaining to admission to a college. There is no doubt, that the condition that is imposed has a connection with the professional activity of a doctor on completion of the course. However, the Appellants have, without any protest, accepted the admissions and executed the compulsory bonds. Execution of bonds is part of a composite package. We are in agreement with the judgment of the Calcutta High Court that the Appellants have not been able to succeed in their attempt of assailing the Notifications for being violative of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. We uphold the said finding of the Division. We accept the submission of Mr.Rakesh Dwivedi, learned Senior Counsel for the State of West Bengal that the positiveof the Stateto uphold the dignity of a larger section of the society is to protect the rights conferred on them by Article 21 of the Constitution.The immediate need of the deprived sections of the society to have proper health care was the reason behind the policy decision of the Government. The objective of the policy is to ensure that specialist health care is extended to the have-notsstated earlier, the right that is claimed by the Appellants is to make an individual choice to carry on their profession which might be hindered by the decision of the Government. On the other hand, the basic idea behind the Government?s decision is larger public interest.The above discussion leads us to the conclusion that right to life guaranteed by Article 21 means right to life with human dignity. Communitarian dignity has been recognised by this Court. While balancing communitarian dignity vis-à-vis the dignity of private individuals, the scales must tilt in favour of communitarian dignity. The laudable objective with which the State Governments have introduced compulsory service bonds is to protect the fundamental right of the deprived sections of the society guaranteed to them under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The contention of the Appellants that their rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India have been violated ise Appellants who are required to work for a short period on a decent stipend cannot complain that they are made to perform ‘forced labour?, especially after the Appellants have taken an informed decision to avail the benefits of admission in government medical colleges and received subsidized education. By no means, the service rendered by the Appellants in Government hospitals would fall under the expression of ‘forced labour?.Specific performance of contract for personal service is not permissible under the Specific Relief Act, therefore, there cannot be a decree for specific performance of a contract of personal nature. Noneof the StateGovernments have made an attempt to enforce the contracts entered into by them with the Appellants through the service bonds. We are not in agreement with the submission of Mr. Ahmadi that the compulsory bonds fall foul of the Specific Relief Act.39. The argument advanced on behalf of the Appellants that compulsory bonds placed a restraint on their profession and thus, would be contrary to Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. The High Court of Calcutta repelled this submission by holding that the compulsory bond does not amount to any restraint on the professional activity of the Appellants. The High Court observed that the Appellants are offered the job of Medical Officer in the State of West Bengal and that the covenant in the compulsory bond operates only during the period of such employment. Relying upon the dictum of Lord Morris in Esso Petroleum v. Harper?s Garage (Stourport) Ltd., 1967 1 All ER 699 that if A made a contract under which he willingly agreed to serve B on reasonable terms for a few years and to give his whole working time to B, it would be surprising indeed, if it were sought to describe the contract as being in restraint of trade; in fact, such a contract would very likely be for the advancement of trade?, the High Court concluded that a contract entered into by Appellants to serve the government for a few years under reasonable terms cannot be described as one in restraint of trade. We are in agreement with the findings recorded by the High Court of Calcutta. Therefore, we are of the considered opinion that the conditions of compulsory bonds for admission to post-graduate and super-Speciality courses in government medical colleges are not in violation of Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872.