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2011 Supreme(Mad) 3367
High Court of Judicature at Madras
K. CHANDRU
Dr. Rajanikanth, V.S. & Others
Versus
The Director of Medical Education, Chennai & Others
W.P.Nos. 16854 to 16860 of 2011 & M.P.Nos. 1 to 3 (7) of 2011
Decided on : 25-07-2011
For the Petitioners:A. Palaniappan, Advocate.
For the Respondents: R1 to R3 - V. Subbia, Spl. G.P.
Headnote:
STIPEND - Medical Education - 64(a), 64(b), 64(c), 64(d), 64(e), 64(f) - The court discussed the conditions stipulated in the prospectus for admission to Post Graduate Diploma / Degree / M.D.S. / Five year M.Ch.(Neuro-Surgery) Courses, focusing on the stipend and security amount, and the obligations imposed on candidates for compulsory service.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners passed M.B.B.S. Examinations, underwent Post Graduate courses, and signed a bond agreeing to compulsory service. The Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine asked them to appear for counselling for compulsory service under the Tamil Nadu Medical service.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the conditions imposed for compulsory service did not violate the Fundamental Rights and that the petitioners were aware of and agreed to the conditions at the time of admission.
Issues: Violation of Fundamental Rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21, imposition of onerous conditions, denial of right to further education, and validity of compulsory service conditions.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the petitioners were aware of and agreed to the conditions at the time of admission, and the conditions did not violate their Fundamental Rights.
Final Decision: The court disposed of all writ petitions, stating that if the petitioners were willing to pay the amount undertaken in the bond, the colleges were bound to return their certificates.
1. The petitioners in these batch of writ petitions have originally passed M.B.B.S. Examinations. Thereafter, they wrote the All India Entrance Examination in the year 2008 for doing Post Graduation in Medicine in different disciplines. The petitioners on being selected for the P.G. Courses, have undergone the said course in different colleges under non service category. The prospectus for the year 2008-2009 for admission to Post Graduate Diploma / Degree / M.D.S. / Five year M.Ch.(Neuro-Surgery) Courses was issued by the Selection committee of the Directorate of Medical Education, Chennai. It had stipulated several conditions. Paragraph 64 of the prospectus had stipulated payment of stipend and conditions relating to security amount.
2.Since the present writ petitions revolve around the conditions stipulated in the prospectus, it is necessary to extract the said condition, which is as follows:
STIPEND AND SECURITY AMOUNT :
64 (a)All Non Service candidates selected will be paid stipend and service candidates salary as per the Government Orders in force.
(b)The Government of Tamil Nadu is offering Medical Education including Post-Graduate and Higher Speciality Training through its 14 Medical Colleges / Hospitals and Specialised institutes. The Government spends a large amount of money to impart Medical Education including Post-Graduate / Higher Speciality Education. It levies nominal fees and at the same time provides a stipend to Private candidates and salary to Service candidates. It is natural that the Government desires to ensure that seats are not wasted. Further, the Government looks forward to these Doctors who have undergone Post-Graduate training to serve the poor and the needy of this country at large and this State in particular. The public have the right to expect the Specialists to utilize the skills they acquired during their training for the benefit of the sick, the poor and the needy. To ensure that the services of trained Post Graduate Doctors are made available, an Under-taking is obtained from them at the time of their admission. It is sincerely, believed that this will discourage an attitude of not paying attention to those poor people at whose expense they have been educated.
(c) All Service Candidates of Tamil Nadu shall execute a bond for a sum of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees five lakhs only) for Diploma courses and Rs.10,00,000/- (Rupees ten lakhs only) for Degree courses and MDS / 5 year M.Ch. Neuro-Surgery courses as security amount with the undertaking that they will serve the Government of Tamil Nadu till Superannuation. Two permanent Government servants in the same or higher rank than the candidate shall execute sureties. The prescribed form will be available in the colleges at the time of admission. The bond will become infructuous if the service candidates serve the Government of Tamil Nadu after the completion of the Course until superannuation.
(d) Non-Service candidates shall execute a bond for a sum of Rs.3,00,000/- (Rupees Three lakhs only) on admission to Post Graduate Diploma courses and 5,00,000/-(Rupees Five Lakhs only) for the Post Graduate Degree courses /MDS / M.Ch. (Neuro-Surgery) 5 years course of the 2008-2009 session undertaking that they shall serve the Government of Tamil Nadu for a period of not less than 2 years, if required. During the above period, they will be paid a salary on par with the fresh recruits of the Government of Tamil Nadu Medical Services and the Government of Tamilnadu will requisition their services, if required, within a period of 2 years from the date of completion of their Postgraduate Degree/Diploma/MDS/M.Ch.,(Neuro Surgery) 5 years Course. Two permanent Government servants shall be sureties. The prescribed form of bond will be available in the Colleges at the time of admission. The bond will become infructuous if he/she serves the State Government of Tamil Nadu if required for minimum period of 2 years.
(e)For any reason, the candidate is unable to serv
