BENGALURU: A super-speciality qualified doctor cannot be expected to remain idle and not work when no posting orders are given to him despite him reporting to the government, said the Karnataka High Court.
It observed that the condition that a post-graduate doctor who has availed of in-service quota for admission to a super-specialty course must remain indebted to the government for the rest of his official life, even in the absence of any posting orders, is not acceptable.
A division bench of Justices Anu Sivaraman and Venkatesh Naik T made the remarks while partially upholding the order dated April 5, 2023, passed by a single judge who had quashed the show-cause notices issued to Dr Adnan Saeed in 2022 by the Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI).
Disposing of the appeals filed by the state government and BMCRI against the single judge’s order, the court noted that Dr Saeed had reported to the government after completion of his course and requested posting orders which were not forthcoming. The state government and BMCRI now contend that he had left the country to work abroad.
But in the absence of any posting orders for him, the appellants cannot raise these contentions, the order said. Since the doctor had reported for duty, but was not issued with any posting orders, the appellants cannot now contend that he was guilty of unauthorised absence from service, it said.
The findings of the inquiry initiated by BMCRI for unauthorised absence are illegal and liable to be set aside, it added. But the court said the finding that the appellant has to pay a salary to the doctor for the period he was not given the posting and the direction to the chief secretary to conduct an inquiry and recover the loss caused to the government are vacated.
Dr Saeed, specialised in oncology, was appointed as Intensive Care Medical Officer in 2009 at the Department of Surgery in BMCRI. Meanwhile, he got a seat at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology for a post-graduate super speciality course in 2015, subject to the condition that he will serve compulsorily in government service till retirement.
After completing the course in 2018, he was relieved of his deputation period on August 8, 2018, and the very next day he approached the government to give him a placement at Kidwai, since there is no department of surgical oncology at BMCRI. Neither the government nor BMCRI gave him a posting and salary for three years. He resigned on August 27, 2021. It was not accepted by the government, and BMCRI issued a notice in 2022 seeking an explanation for the unauthorised absence.