Shimla: In a significant ruling on medical faculty appointments, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has clarified that teaching experience acquired before the formal recognition or establishment of a medical college under Section 10A of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, cannot be considered valid for appointments such as Assistant Professor.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Ranjan Sharma made this observation while dismissing the appeal of a doctor whose application for the post of Assistant Professor in General Surgery was rejected due to insufficient eligible teaching experience.
Background of the Case
The petitioner, an MS (Surgery) graduate from Himachal Pradesh University in 2016, had joined as a Senior Resident at Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College (SLBS GMC) in December 2016. However, SLBS GMC received official recognition under Section 10A only on May 31, 2017.
When the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission invited applications in December 2019 for the post of Assistant Professor, with January 16, 2020 as the eligibility cut-off date, the petitioner applied. However, his No Objection Certificate (NOC) was later withdrawn after scrutiny showed he lacked the mandatory three years of post-PG teaching experience from a recognized medical college.
Court’s Key Observations
Rejecting the argument that his experience from December 8, 2016 should be counted, the High Court clarified:
“The teaching experience thus would only be available to the petitioner post setting up of the college… though he might have been posted as such by the State at the initial stage for fulfilling the norms of the MCI.”
The Court also underscored that eligibility must be assessed strictly as per the cut-off date mentioned in the advertisement, and that recognition of the medical college is a prerequisite for validating teaching experience.
No Right from Provisional Approval
The petitioner had claimed that his initial NOC and experience certificate confirmed his eligibility, and cited examples of similarly placed candidates. However, the Court stated:
“Merely because he has been designated and working as a Senior Resident in the college does not validate experience prior to formal recognition. Participation in the selection process or provisional approval does not confer a legal right.”
Final Verdict
Dismissing the appeal, the Division Bench upheld the Single Judge’s decision, stating:
“The petitioner not being eligible as per statutory rules… cannot claim appointment. The State’s withdrawal of NOC was within legal bounds and not arbitrary.”
