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Dr. Tapas Kumar Mandal and Others v. State of West Bengal and Others

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal Nos. 6689-6690 of 2015)Decided 1 Sept 2015
Civil Appeal Nos. 6689-6690 of 2015
Justice M.Y. Eqbal · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

A group of government doctors in West Bengal, who had completed postgraduate diploma courses under a "Trainee Reserve" scheme, applied for sponsorship to pursue a further postgraduate degree course in 2015 and initially topped the merit list. The State government later issued a notification barring doctors who had obtained a diploma within the preceding three years (2012-2015) from receiving further sponsorship that year, causing the appellants' names to be dropped from the approved list. Their challenge before the West Bengal Administrative Tribunal and then the Calcutta High Court was dismissed, leading to this appeal before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that placement/sponsorship of doctors under the Trainee Reserve Rules, 2008 is a matter of government discretion under Rule 9, and that mere success in an examination does not create a vested right to sponsorship ahead of more senior doctors who had completed their specialisation earlier. The Court found the government's policy of prioritising doctors who qualified more than three years earlier was rational, non-arbitrary, and justified by the acute shortage of specialist doctors and the State's plan to open new super-specialty hospitals. It declined to interfere with the High Court's order, while recording the respondents' assurance that the appellants would be considered for sponsorship in the following year (2016-17). The appeals were accordingly dismissed with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

Even if a government employee ranks highly in a selection process, statutory rules giving the government discretion over placement/sponsorship (especially where seniority or policy considerations like staff shortages are involved) will generally be upheld by courts unless shown to be arbitrary or mala fide.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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