How a missed deadline freed 4 doctors from compulsory service at Naxal-affected Chhattisgarh districts
Chhattisgarh HC ruled in favour of doctors, who approached it against state govt’s directive to them to serve for two years in Bijapur and Narayanpur.
The dispute arose after the Health Department initiated counselling for compulsory government service on December 8, 2025, and subsequently issued appointment orders on December 24, posting the graduates to health facilities in Bijapur and Narayanpur. Four MBBS graduates who were required to serve for two years in the Naxal-affected districts of Bijapur and Narayanpur under Chhattisgarh’s compulsory service bond policy have been relieved of that obligation after the Chhattisgarh High Court ruled that the state government failed to issue their appointment orders within the period prescribed by law.
In an order passed on Thursday, Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad held that the service bonds executed by the petitioners stood “automatically cancelled” after the state failed to appoint them within six months of completion of their MBBS course and internship, as mandated under Rule 10(vi) of the Chhattisgarh Medical, Dental and Physiotherapy Undergraduate Admission Rules, 2025.
The four petitioners, represented by advocate Ashutosh Mishra, had completed their MBBS from the Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences in 2024 and their compulsory rotating internship in May 2025.
At the time of admission, they had signed bonds undertaking to serve the state government for two years after graduation. However, they argued that the admission rules clearly required the government to issue appointment orders within six months of completion of the course and internship, failing which the bond obligation would automatically lapse.
Since no appointments were issued by November 2025, the petitioners sought cancellation of the bonds, issuance of no-objection certificates (NOCs), and release of their MBBS degrees.
The dispute arose after the Health Department initiated counselling for compulsory government service on December 8, 2025, and subsequently issued appointment orders on December 24, posting the graduates to health facilities in Bijapur and Narayanpur.
Govt’s argument
Opposing the plea, the state government argued that the petitioners were attempting to evade obligations voluntarily undertaken at the time of admission after benefiting from subsidised medical education in government institutions.
The state submitted that the bond policy was aimed at addressing the acute shortage of doctors in rural and remote areas, particularly in government hospitals and primary health centres, and ensuring that graduates rendered public service in return for state-supported education.
The government further contended that the petitioners had participated in the counselling process and were therefore bound by the appointments. It argued that failure to join service would make them liable to pay bond amounts of Rs 25 lakh for unreserved category candidates and Rs 20 lakh for reserved category candidates.
‘Of no legal consequence’
Rejecting the state’s arguments, the High Court held that the six-month deadline under the admission rules was mandatory.
“This Court has no hesitation in holding that since the respondents failed to issue appointment orders to the petitioners within a period of six months from the date of completion of MBBS course and internship, the bonds executed by the petitioners stood automatically cancelled by operation of law,” the court said.
The court further held that the appointment orders issued on December 24, 2025, after the expiry of the statutory period, were “unenforceable and of no legal consequence”.
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