Kerala High Court calls idle postgraduate doctors a 'national waste'; one-year bond runs from the date the result is published
30 September 2026
Justice Viju Abraham of the Kerala High Court has held that the compulsory one-year senior residency bond for postgraduate medical graduates of government colleges in Kerala runs from the date the result is published, and not from the date a posting is actually given.
The judgment in George Balu and Ors. v. State of Kerala and Baddevolu Priyanka and Ors. v. State of Kerala, WP(C) Nos. 25441 and 9651 of 2026, is reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 539.
The Court described postgraduate doctors sitting idle at home without a posting, unable to work outside government service, as a 'national waste'.
It recorded that almost eight months had passed after the 23 petitioners completed their bond period.
The State was directed to decide within one month whether to create supernumerary posts for them or to release them from the service obligation.
The petitioners are from the 2022 batch, and the squeeze arose from overlapping 2021 and 2022 admission batches competing for about 600 senior residency vacancies.
In plain words
Senior residency Post-postgraduate residency service — A period of hospital service that postgraduate medical graduates owe the State under a bond.
Supernumerary post A post created above the sanctioned strength — A temporary post added beyond the approved number of posts to accommodate particular persons.