Dr. Satinder Kaur Sahni vs Principal, Sawai Man Singh Medical College & Ors.

The petitioner a meritorious student was admitted to the D.M. (Neurology) course in the Academic Year 2016-17 and one would have thought

that the issue was over with. That however was not to be.

As a student of DM Neurology vide office order dated 20.08.2016 issued by the Principal, SMS Medical College, the petitioner was required

to comply with the terms and conditions of her appointment as a resident.

The said terms and conditions are reproduced hereunder :-

Each candidate will have to remain in the institution allotted for the full duration of the course. In this regard He/she shall have to

submit a self declaration as per performa enclosed.

In case a candidate is found to have submitted any false information or certificates etc. or is found to withhold or conceal some

information in his/her application form, he/she shall be debarred form admission/admission shall be cancelled. In his regard He/she

shall have to submit a self declaration as per performa enclosed.

HOD/Unit Head will assign duties and responsibilities to the candidates from time to time. He/She will be required to perform

assigned work (being a part of his/her DM/Mch study) in the legitimate interest of the patient care, in this regard He/She Shall have to

submit a self declaration as per perofrma enclosed.

As per State Government direction, all the non-service candidate are directed to submit a bond of Rs. 5.00 Lac (Rupees Five

Lakhs only) and in case they leave the course before completion they will have to deposit the bond money along with the stipend so

drawn for the period. The in-service candidate will also have to submit a bond of Rs 5.00 Lacs (Rupees Five Lakhs only) and will

have to deposit the money as per Government rules, in case they leave the course before completion.

A service bond amounting for Rs. 25.00 (Twenty Five Lacs Only) Non-Service Candidates will have to be signed to serve the

Sate Government for a Minimum period of five years after completion of the course and the in-service candidates will have to abide

by the bond as per State Government/RSR rule. (Service bond will not be applicable for the M.Ch.-CTVS & Paed. Surgery

Courses)

The Candidate will be permitted to obtain only 20 days casual leaves in a year. Generally there will be no holidays. However

weekly off will be given by the HOD/Unit Head at his/her convenience.

The resident will be provided Hostel accommodation if available and if allotted, shall have to reside in the hostel. Other Hostel

charges (e.g. electricity, water etc.) will be charged as per rules. After completion of their tenure of the DM/M.Ch. Course, he/she

will have to vacate the hostel accommodation if available and if allotted, shall have to reside in the hostel. Other Hostel charges (e.g.

electricity, water etc.) will be charged as per rules. After completion of their tenure of the DM/M.ch. Course, he/she will have to

vacate the hostel accommodation immediately failing which appropriate action will be take against him/her as per rules.

Terms and conditions of the residency including hostel accommodation etc. can be altered and modified in the interest of the

institution without notice.

The candidate will have to obtain the Enrollment/Registration and Eligibility form from the office of the respective colleges on any

working and submit the same duly filled in along-with their original migration certificate and original required documents of the

concerned University form where he/she has passed out the MD/MS Examination and deposit the required fee immediately at

respective Medical College as per rule. It is clarified that the result of any candidate may be withheld by the Rajasthan University of

Health Sciences, Jaipur in absence of Enrollment & fulfilling of the conditions and registration form.

The tenure of appointment on the post of resident for pursuing DM/M.Ch. Study will be one year at the first instance on a fixed

stipend which will be further extended up to period of three years by the undersigned on satisfactory performance and conduct of the

resident. In service candidates will get leave salary/stipend as per State Govt. rules and direction which can be altered from time to

time.

The candidates will have to deposit the college fee as per Govt. directives from time to time, with the college cashier.

The candidates are directed to get themselves registered with Rajasthan Medical Council withing 30 days of their Joining.

It is thus evident that the petitioner during her DM Neurology course and as resident on that count was under an obligation to comply with

specified terms and conditions. Thereunder she was permitted only 20 days casual leave a year and generally entitled to a weekly off as per the

HOD/ Unit Head''s convenience. The tenure of appointment as resident was one year in the first instance extendable upto a period of three years

by the Principal/ Controller of SMS Medical College on satisfactory performance and conduct of the resident. These and other conditions of the

office order dated 20.08.2016 were quite unexceptional inasmuch as the function of a resident pursuing a DM Course at a Medical College entails

assisting the Professors and other teaching faculty of a Medical College i.e. in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. This requirement is very

demanding and by itself alongwith seminars and period lectures constitutes studying in the DM course itself. As a condition for admission into DM

Course and appointment as resident, the petitioner also executed a surety bond on 24.12.2016 stating that her admission/ registration in the DM

Course would be liable to be cancelled by the University if her performance was unsatisfactory/ or she found engaged in misconduct/ indiscipline.

Subsequent to her admission into DM Neurology at the SMS Medical College and Hospital the petitioner absented without leave on several

occasions-with the period aggregating to several months. Her admission in the circumstances was cancelled after due process by the Principal and

Controller of SMS Medical College on 19.07.2017. Thereagainst she approached this court in SBCWP No.12452/2017 titled Dr. Satinder Kaur

Sahni vs. Principal, SMS Medical College & Others.

Vide order dated 01.08.2017 for the unarticulated reason that the merits of an order for discontinuation in a DM Course for reasons of

unsatisfactory performance and unauthorized leave for periods extending over several months was not for this court to address as it lay in the

domain of the experts, the petitioner was required to make a representation ventilating her grievance to the Principal and Controller, SMS Medical

Hospital. And the petition was so disposed of.

On a resultant representation being made by the petitioner on 03.08.2017 to the Principal, SMS Medical College a Five Doctor Committee out

of sheer regard for this court appears to have taken a liberal view of the matter and recall the order of the petitioner''s cancellation for admission

into DM Neurology course on 19.07.2017 subject to the conditions that in the event of the petitioner repeating her unauthorized absence from

work as a resident or indiscipline in not abiding by the guidelines of MCI/ RUHS specifically in respect of permissible leave her admission into the

DM Neurology course may be again cancelled.

Following her reinstatement in the DM Neurology Course aforesaid, the petitioner rejoined. The Court would have thought that the petitioner

may have taken a lesson from the episode. She however apparently misconstrued the leniency in her reinstatement in the DM Course, appears to

have continued in her old ways again and absented from her assignment as resident without authorized leave. The petitioner''s co-residents sharing

the burden of patient care complained to the Unit Head and the Principal, SMS Medical College with regard to the petitioner''s conduct leading to

disruption in their schedule at work leading to lack of essential care of the indoor patients. It indeed appears that the petitioner after her

reinstatement in the DM Neurology course was absent again on various occasions without prior notice for periods aggregating to 14 days. In the

circumstances a Three Doctor Committee on 10.11.2017 having gone into the complaints against the petitioner vide their letter to the Principal and

Controller SMS Medical College recommended serious action be taken against the petitioner as her unauthorized absence was seriously

hampering care of indoor patient and also spoiling the image of the Neurology Super Specialty Department at one of the most prestigious institute

in the State i.e. the SMS Medical College and Hospital Jaipur.

A Five Doctor Committee on consideration of the recommendation and having heard the petitioner herself on notice unanimously proposed for

reason of her indiscipline and unauthorized absence in the interest of patient care that the petitioner''s admission to the DM Neurology course be

cancelled with an intimidation to Registrar, RUHS Jaipur. The impugned order dated 01.11.2017 now under challenge was accordingly passed.

Mr. Rajendra Soni counsel for the petitioner submitted that the fact of the petitioner finding a seat in DM Neurology Course at the prestigious

SMS Medical College and Hospital by itself is evidence of her being meritorious. That seat having been availed irrevocably by the petitioner and is

lost to others for good. Cancellation of the petitioner''s admission aside of grievous loss to her would entail national wastage. This court should in

the circumstances invoke its extraordinary jurisdiction to counsel the petitioner to better commitment in the DM Neurology course and in the

interest of justice require the respondent College to once again consider the petitioner''s case sympathetically within the ambit of the governing

regulations pertaining to DM Courses.

Mr. S.K. Gupta, AAG and Mr. Angad Mirdha for the MCI submitted that the petitioner as a student of DM Neurology Course and resident

in the Department of Neurology was under an obligation to adhere to the terms and conditions of her appointment as resident. She miserably failed

to so do. She aside of the breach of the terms of appointment as resident, indiscipline in that capacity, and unsatisfactory performance cannot now

score, for reason of months of unauthorized absence, the minimum of 80% attendance in each of the three years of the DM Neurology Course

warranted by the MCI Education Regulation, 2000. It was submitted that the petitioner was given a second chance to continue in the course based

on the observations of this Court in the earlier writ petition and yet after her reinstatement on sympathetic not legal grounds continued with her

unacceptable conduct of repeated absence without leave further exacerbated by her gross indiscipline in unnecessarily quarreling with other

residents undertaking the DM Course in the Department of Neurology. It was submitted that the case at hand before this Court should not be

looked at from the prism of plain sympathy as it is not a regular College management-student matter. The job of a resident entails an obligation of

utmost commitment and discipline because it has a bearing on the well being of the indoor patients at the hospitals. It was submitted that the

petitioner''s unauthorized leaves lead to disruption in the scheduling of time during which other residents are required to be at the hospital, which

infact is through day and night and endangers the life of the indoor patients-the loss of reputation of the department of Neurology with the public

apart. Heard. Considered.

The petitioner is obviously a meritorious student having been admitted to DM Neurology Course-a very competitive one. That however does

not confer the petitioner right to continue in the said course unless she is fully compliant with the terms and conditions of the office order dated

20.08.2016 as also MCI''s Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000. The petitioner in terms of the office order dated 20.08.2016 is

not entitled to leave without being so authorized and that too upto a maximum of 20 days a year, aside of one weekly off at the convenience of the

Unit head. She was under an obligation to work to the satisfaction of the head of the unit to which she was assigned. This she has so far lacked

despite a second chance being given to her following her reinstatement consequent to the directions of this Court for reconsideration under its

order dated 01.08.2017. The petitioner has again been remiss in her duties as a resident. There is no reason for this Court to assume that the Five

Doctor Committee has not acted bonafide in cancelling her admission to the DM Course by the impugned order dated 01.11.2017. Yet, the DM

Neurology seat pertaining to Academic Year 2016-17 is a national asset. Except for the petitioner lawfully admitted thereto it cannot now be

utilized. The petitioner by her irresponsible conduct so far appears to be suffering from some unarticulated concerns and problems. As a student

she may be need of some help- in the ""Guru Shishya"" parampara: some indulgence more than the ordinary- more so because of the reason

recorded above-A seat in the DM Course which none other than can now utilize, has substantial value for the country as a qualified doctor is a

public asset.

In the circumstances I would be inclined to dispose of this petition requiring the petitioner to make a representation afresh to the Principal and

Controller, SMS Medical College seeking his indulgence and even mercy for being reinstated to the DM Neurology Course. The Principal and

Controller may then as the father figure of students at the College constitute a committee to re-look into the petitioner''s fresh representation and

dispose it of within a period of seven days of receipt of a certified copy of this order-no doubt within the ambit of the governing regulations.

In the event of the petitioner being granted indulgence wholly in the discretion of the Principal, SMS Medical College, further infractions by the

petitioner on her obligations as a resident will leave her without recourse.