Private medical colleges obligated to pay only stipend to in-service doctors: Madras HC

The Madras High Court has held that self-financing private medical colleges are obligated to pay only the stipend to the in-service government doctors who study postgraduation and super-specialty courses in medicine in such colleges and not salary like their counterparts in the government medical educational institutions.

A division bench headed by justices R Subramanian and K Surender gave the order recently while partially granting the writ appeal moved by Karpaga Vinayaga Medical College at Maduranthakam in Chengalpet, challenging a single judge order that ruled that the self-financing colleges have to pay salary for the in-service doctors.

The government had made a policy decision not to give salary to the in-service doctors if they undertake PG and super-specialty courses in self-financing medical colleges, and a G.O. was released in 2020 in this context. There have been several litigations on this issue ever since.

Contrary to the view of the sole judge, the bench held that in-service doctors are not employees of the private medical college, while the in-service doctors who are studying PG in government medical colleges remain in the government's service.

"So, the position of an in-service doctor in a private medical institution is that of a PG student and nothing beyond that.". If that is the case, they can only be treated as equally as the other PG students of the same institution, and they would be entitled to whatever compensation that is being received by the other PG students of the same institution," the bench observed in the order. It ruled that in light of Regulation 13.3 of the Post-Graduate Medical Education Rules (PGMER), they would be eligible for the stipend.

Deciding that the responsibility is on the self-financing institution to remunerate in-service doctors who undertake their higher studies, the bench held that they would be responsible to pay only the stipend as determined by the state.

"The in-service doctors, who seek their higher studies in private medical colleges cannot claim salary from these institutions comparable to their more meritorious counterparts who seek higher studies in government medical colleges," the bench held. 

Advocate General PS Raman represented the government, while advocate Abishek Jenasenan represented the appellant-medical college.

The appeal was submitted by the appellant against the 2024 single judge order holding that salary for in-service PG, super-specialty, broad-specialty and PG diploma in self-financing colleges should be paid by such colleges.