The High Court of Karnataka has held that the provisions of compulsory training service will not be applicable to the postgraduate medical students admitted during the academic years 2016-17 and 2017-18.
The court said that since the information about the compulsory service was made available only in 2018-19, the provisions are applicable to the students admitted from the 2018-19 academic.
In a batch of petitions, postgraduate medical students from the academic years 2016-17, 2017-18 and postgraduate diploma students from the academic year 2018-19 had questioned the applicability of the provision.
The Karnataka Compulsory Service Training by Candidates Completed Medical Courses Act, 2012 was gazetted on July 24, 2015, providing compulsory service by candidates who had completed medical courses, before award of degrees or postgraduate
degrees/diplomas.
Several petitions were filed and an interim order of stay was also issued subject to result of the petitions. The petitions were disposed of in August 2019, upholding the provisions of the Act and the Rules. However, it was held that the provisions of the Act and the Rules were prospective in nature and therefore they do not apply to the students who had been admitted before July 24, 2015.
The petitioners contended that none of the three brochures issued during the first National Entrance and Eligibility Test (NEET) held for the academic year 2017-18, contained the requirement of compulsory service.