Karnataka HC Extends Interim Relief To PG Doctors Till Nov 23

A division bench of Justice B V Nagarathna and Justice N S Sanjay Gowda extended the relief after a request was made by the government counsel to take up the matter for hearing on November 18, as the Advocate General is to appear in the matter and address the court. The bench allowed the request and posted the matter for hearing on November 23, till then the interim relief is to continue.

The doctors have challenged the compulsory One year Urban service rule for Postgraduate Doctors who had taken admission through Management and NRI quota. The doctors are also challenging an order dated August 30, 2019, by which the court had upheld the constitutional validity of section 4 of the KCS Act. The appellants have claimed that they have no issue serving under the Disaster Management Act, dehors the KCS act.

The bench had earlier raised a preliminary objection to the maintainability of the appeal holding that as per the Karnataka Compulsory Training Service By Candidates Completed Medical Courses Act 2012, a candidate includes all students belonging to all quota. It had said "What is so superior to the management quota that you cannot do service for one year in the state. The service you will do is not for gratis, they will pay you."

Advocate Akkamahadevi Hiremath, appearing for the appellants had argued that when they had taken admission in the private colleges, the Act was stayed by an order passed by the court. Moreover, the brochures issued by the private colleges also did not mention this rule of doing the compulsory service for students admitted under the management quota or NRI student's. She even mentioned that the students have paid lakhs and crores of rupees for their education and since they have not received any benefit from the state government the dictum of 'quid pro quo' would not be applicable in their case.