Association Of Medical Super ... vs Union Of India

3. Notifications issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal imposing the condition of execution of compulsory bond at the time of admission to post-graduate courses and super speciality courses were challenged in the High Court of Calcutta. Notification dated 31.07.2013 which was assailed in the High Court required the Appellant-doctors to work in the Multi-Speciality/ Super Speciality Hospitals, Secondary and Tertiary Level Hospitals in West Bengal for a period of one year after completion of their post-graduate and post-doctoral education in State Medical Teaching Institutions in West Bengal. Execution of bond at the time of admission to post-graduate courses and super Speciality courses, providing that they shall serve the State Government for a period of one year on successful completion of the courses, failing which they will be liable to recompense the State Government a penalty amount of Rs.10 Lakhs, was made compulsory. Partially modifying the Notification dated 31.07.2013, the Government of West Bengal issued a Notification on 10.06.2014 by which the condition pertaining to one year service was increased to two years. The compensation in case of failure by the Doctors to serve in the State was 3 enhanced to Rs. 30 Lakhs. 139 Doctors who have acquired Degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from various universities in the country challenged the aforementioned Notifications in the High Court. The learned Single Judge of the Calcutta High Court by a judgment dated 03.11.2017 upheld the Notification dated 31.07.2013. However, the Notification dated 10.09.2014 was held to be arbitrary and unreasonable. Aggrieved by the judgment of the learned Single Judge, the State of West Bengal filed an appeal before the Division Bench of the High Court. Some of the Writ Petitioners who were aggrieved by the judgment insofar as it related to the Notification dated 31.07.2013 being upheld also filed appeals. By the impugned judgment, a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court held that both the Notifications dated 31.07.2013 and 10.09.2014 are neither unreasonable nor arbitrary. The Division Bench set aside the judgment of the learned Single Judge insofar as it related to the Notification dated 10.09.2014 being quashed. The points urged before the High Court of Calcutta and the findings recorded therein shall be dealt with later.

4. The Appellants seeking admission to post-graduate courses in Armed Forces Medical College, Pune were required to execute a similar bond to serve in the Armed Forces Medical 4 Services as Short Service Commission Officers for a period of five years on completion of the post-graduate courses. In case of failure to serve for five years, the Appellants were required to recompense the college with Rs.25 Lakhs. The above condition was included in the brochure for admission to Post-Graduate Medical Courses for the year 2014-2015. A writ petition was filed in 2017 by Appellants who were admitted in the post- graduate courses in the year 2014-2015 challenging the validity of Clause 12 of the Information Bulletin which required them to serve for five years in the Armed Forces Medical Services. They sought a further direction for return of their original documents without insisting on compulsory service condition. The Writ Petition was dismissed by a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court by judgment dated 02.04.2019 with costs quantified at Rs.1 Lakh per petitioner. Aggrieved by the said judgment, SLP Nos.10007 and 2387 of 2019 have been filed.

LRs & ORs. V. Shirdi Nagar Panchayat & Anr. 6 to hold that the notion of public interest is synonymous with collective welfare of the people and public institutions, and is generally informed by the dictates of the public trust doctrine – res communis (i.e. everyone is common). The Division Bench rejected the point raised by the Appellants that the compulsory bonds were in violation of Section 27 of the Contract Act. It was held that the post-graduate medical courses and the service bond were a package. The Division Bench sought support from 6 (2016) 4 SCC 631 10 the judgment of the High Court of Bombay in Dr. Vinod Shankarlal Sharma & Ors. v. The State of Maharashtra & Anr7. to uphold the constitutionality of the Government Resolutions imposing service bond. On the basis of the above findings, the Division Bench upheld the Notifications dated 31.07.2013 and 10.09.2014.

13. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, learned counsel appearing for the State of Gujarat submitted that there are six colleges in the State of Gujarat imparting education in super speciality courses. In all, there are 122 seats out of which 76 seats are in the government colleges and 46 seats in the private colleges. A nominal fee of Rs.40,000/- is charged from the doctors who are paid a stipend of Rs.72,000/-, Rs.75,000/- and Rs.80,000/- per month for their first year, second year and third year courses respectively. There is a high demand for super Speciality doctors in the State of Gujarat in view of the large number of patients in departments of Oncology, Cardiology and Nephrology in the super Speciality hospitals. In view of the health need of the patients and the acute shortage of super specialists, the State Government decided to introduce the compulsory bond. The super specialists are posted only in the four super Speciality hospitals run by the Government. 22

36 Article 23

(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.”

III. Contract of Personal Service

“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

40. The upshot of the above discussion is that the Writ Petitions and the Appeals deserve to be dismissed. Consequently, all the Doctors who have executed compulsory bonds shall be bound by the conditions contained therein. 31 1967 1 All ER 699.

41. Taking note of the fact that certain State Governments have rigid conditions in the compulsory bonds to be executed by the Appellants and the felt need of uniformity in the matter pertaining to the compulsory bonds, we suggest that suitable steps be taken by the Union of India and the Medical Council of India to have a uniform policy regarding the compulsory service to be rendered by the Doctors who are trained in government institutions.

42. The Writ Petitions and the Appeals are dismissed.