Medical College Has No 'Lien' Over Student's Original Certificates To Enforce Service Bond Executed During Admission: Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court has held that a medical college cannot withhold a doctor's original educational certificates to enforce a service bond executed at the time of admission. [2026 LiveLaw (Tel) 90]The Court observed that even if a candidate breaches the bond by failing to serve in government hospitals, the college has no lien over the original certificates and must recover the bond amount through appropriate legal proceedings.Allowing a writ appeal filed by a doctor who had completed his super-specialty course, a Division Bench of Justice K. Lakshman and Justice B.R. Madhusudhan Rao observed:"Respondent No.8 – College has no lien over the original certificates of the candidates including the appellant herein. If appellant violates the aforesaid undertaking... respondent No.8 – College is entitled for an amount of Rs.50,00,000/- from the appellant... respondent No.8 – College has to file a suit against the appellant seeking recovery of money but it can't withhold the original certificates and it has no lien."The Bench consequently directed the college to return all the appellant's original certificates within one week.The appellant had joined the respondent medical college to pursue a DM/MCh (Doctorate of Medicine/Master of Chirurgiae) course after executing an undertaking to serve the Government of Telangana in government hospitals for two years upon completion of the course, if required. Under the undertaking, failure to join as a Senior Resident or to complete the stipulated service within 36 months would entail payment of ₹50 lakh to the Government.At the time of admission, the appellant had deposited his original certificates, including his permanent medical registration certificate, MBBS and postgraduate degree certificates, internship completion certificate, mark sheets, transfer certificate and migration certificate.Although the appellant successfully completed the course during the 2024-25 academic year, the college refused to return the original certificates on the ground that he had not fulfilled the service obligation under the undertaking.Before the High Court, the appellant contended that while the college may seek recovery of the bond amount if the undertaking had been breached, it had no authority in law to retain his original certificates as security.The appellant relied on a series of earlier decisions of the High Court, including Malraju Suhitha v. State of Telangana and Bhashapaka Pragna Vardhini v. State of Telangana, wherein similar action by educational institutions had been disapproved.Referring to its earlier precedents, the Division Bench noted that paragraph 7(iii) of G.O.Ms. No.114 dated July 5, 2017—which provided that original certificates submitted by students would not be returned until completion of the course and university examinations—had already been struck down as unconstitutional by a Division Bench in W.P. No.21137 of 2019. The Court also referred to its decisions in Mahatma Gandhi Law College v. State of Telangana and Sai Lakshmi Saranya v. State of Telangana.The Court held that these decisions made it clear that educational institutions possess no lien over students' original certificates.Significantly, both the Assistant Government Pleader appearing for the State and the Standing Counsel for the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences fairly conceded before the Court that the respondent college had no authority to withhold the appellant's original certificates.The Bench observed that the learned Single Judge had dismissed the writ petition without considering these settled legal principles.Setting aside the Single Judge's order, the Division Bench directed the respondent college to return all twelve original certificates deposited by the appellant, under due acknowledgment, within one week from the date of receipt of the judgment.Case Title: Dr. Goteti Ravindranath v. Union of India & Ors.Case No.: Writ Appeal No. 1422 of 2025Citation: [2026 LiveLaw (Tel) 90]Appearance: Mr. Sreenivasa Rao Velivela for the appellant; Mr. K. Shanthan Rao, Assistant Government Pleader for Higher Education, for respondent Nos. 2, 5, 8 and 9; Mr. T. Sharath, Standing Counsel for Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences, for respondent No. 7.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Medical College Has No 'Lien' Over Student's Original Certificates To Enforce Service Bond Executed During Admission: Telangana High Court

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Medical College Has No 'Lien' Over Student's Original Certificates To Enforce Service Bond Executed During Admission: Telangana High Court

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