PG Medical Admissions: HC Relief to Haryana Medical Officers on Mandatory Rs 50 lakh Guarantee Clause

Chandigarh: A recent Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict has given a sigh of relief to the medical officers of Haryana by Staying the clause which directed the medical officers to furnish bank guarantee or mortgage of an immovable property in order to pursue postgraduate degree/diploma.

The state government mandated a clause which said that the medical officers who intend to pursue a postgraduate degree or diploma in medical sciences would have to equip the bank with a guarantee or mortgage of an immovable property of an amount equivalent to Rs 50 lakh.

Many petitions were filed by one Dr Satbir Singh, a medical officer posted in Rohtak district and 21 other doctors of the state health department deployed at various places across the state, regarding the issue. The petitioners first and foremost wanted the eviction of the guarantee clause mandated in the state government policy.

Certain conditions mentioned in the policy are severely imposed upon the medical officers in the state for getting admission to the MD/MS/PG diploma and MDS for the academic year 2018-19 in government aided/private medical and dental educational institutes. Hence, the petitioners want the state government policy to be set aside.

Pointing out that no such clause has been mandated in the previous one, petitioner doctors have contended that the new policy has been imposed on them despite the fact that they are governed by the old December 23, 2011, policy, where no such condition of bank guarantee was prescribed by the state.

It has also been argued by the petitioners that they had applied for NEET PG-2018 in October 2017 and so they are not covered under the new policy, as per a recent media report.

After hearing all those concerned petitions, interim stay orders on the Rs 50 lakh rule were passed by a division bench comprising Justices Mahesh Grover and Rajbir Sehrawat, during which the court observed,

“Counsel for the petitioners contends that he will restrict his case only to the limited aspect of a clause in the new policy, which prescribes furnishing of bank guarantee or mortgage of an immovable property of an amount equivalent to Rs 50 lakh. After hearing the learned counsel for the petitioners, we are of the opinion that there is a debatable issue to be determined in the present proceedings.”

Meanwhile, the bench added, “The petitioners will furnish a bond but the condition of bank guarantee or mortgage of an immovable property as per the new policy shall not be insisted upon by the respondents.”

The court has also directed the Haryana government and the state health authorities to file its reply by July 17 on the issue raised in the petition, reports TOI.