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Hyderabad: A medical college cannot hold on to a doctor’s original educational certificates simply because he failed to honour a service bond signed at the time of admission, the Telangana High Court has ruled, directing that all such documents be returned to him within a week.

A division bench of Justices K Lakshman and BR Madhusudhan Rao was hearing an appeal by a doctor who had completed his super-specialty course but was denied his original certificates by the college on the ground that he had not fulfilled a commitment to serve in government hospitals afterwards.

The High Court made clear that even if a student breaches such a bond, the institution has no legal right to keep the certificates as leverage. If the college believes it is owed money, the bench said, its only recourse is to approach a court and recover the amount through due process and not to withhold documents that belong to the student.

Case background

The doctor had joined the college for a DM/MCh super-specialty programme after signing an undertaking to work for the Telangana government for two years following his course, if asked to do so. The agreement stated that if he failed to take up the posting or complete the required service within three years, he would have to pay the government Rs 50 lakh.

As is common practice at admission, he had deposited his original documents with the college, including his medical registration certificate, MBBS and postgraduate degree certificates, internship completion certificate, mark sheets and other records. He finished his course in the 2024-25 academic year, but the college refused to hand back the papers, citing his unmet service obligation.

He argued before the court that while the college was free to pursue recovery of the bond amount if it believed he had defaulted, it had no authority to hold his certificates hostage in the meantime.

High Court cites earlier rulings

The bench noted that this was not new ground for the Telangana High Court, pointing to a string of earlier judgments in which similar conduct by educational institutions had been struck down. It also referred to a 2017 government order that had allowed colleges to withhold certificates until course completion, noting that this provision had already been declared unconstitutional by another bench of the court in 2019.

Notably, neither the government’s counsel nor the standing counsel for the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences defended the college’s position, with both conceding in court that it had no legal right to withhold the documents.

The bench observed that a single judge had earlier dismissed the doctor’s plea without taking these settled legal principles into account. Setting aside that order, it directed the college to return all 12 of his original certificates within a week, against proper acknowledgement.