INR 30 lakh as ‘seat leaving’ bond in GMC is too much: SC

While hearing a petition filed by a junior resident doctor from Madhya Pradesh, the apex court said, 30 lakh as ‘seat leaving’ bond is “too much”.

There was a petition filed in Supreme Court by a junior resident doctor from Madhya Pradesh who had initially approached the state high court to consider reducing the bond amount from INR 30 lakh to INR 10 lakh. The Jabalpur bench of the high court dismissed her plea on August 29, following which she moved to the top court of India. While hearing the case, the Supreme Court observed that asking a government medical college student paying a yearly fee of INR 124,000 to cough up INR 30 lakh as a ‘seat leaving’ bond is “too much”.

“It is reasonable for having a higher bond amount to compensate for the loss of seat. But INR 30 lakh is too much,” a bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said, seeking the view of the National Medical Commission (NMC) on the issue, as reported by Hindustan Times.

“We can ask her to pay INR 15 lakh. We will implead (make party) the NMC to understand what is the rationale behind this amount on the next date,” the SC said. The next hearing is scheduled for October 31, 2022.

About the petitioner Sheeba Rao

She had qualified for the Neet-PG 2021 examination and was allotted a seat on May 1, 2022, in the stray vacancy counselling round at Shyam Shah Medical College, Rewa in the master of surgery (obstetrics and gynaecology). 

At first, she took the seat on May 7 but later was not satisfied with the infrastructure of the college and the Rewa city where the college is situated. Hence, she decided to leave the seat but she had signed a ‘seat leaving’ bond of INR 30 lakh and submitted her original certificates at the time of joining.

When she informed the college about her decision to quit the seat, the Medical Education Department of the MP government and the dean of the Shyam Shah Medical College served her with a letter on July 4 refusing her permission to participate in the Neet-PG 2022 counselling and admission process without executing the bond. As a result, she could not participate in the Neet-PG 2022 counselling.

Read more:

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• NEET PG 2022 Counselling: Round-2 reporting deadline extended; check details