Plea before Bombay HC challenged the 'blanket ban' on medical officers, prohibited them from practicing in private clinics after their duty at a public hospital

Case: Dr. Anil Shankar Rathod vs the State of Maharashtra

Bench: Justices Sanjay Gangapurwala and Shreeram Modak

Recently, the Bombay High Court issued notice to the Maharashtra government on a plea challenging the 'blanket ban' inflicted on medical officers, prohibiting them from practicing in private clinics after their duty hours at a public hospital or health center.

The petition challenged specific clauses of August 7, 2012, Government Resolution (GR) prohibiting the private practice. The petitioner sought a directive to the authorities to provide an option to either accept non-practicing allowance (NPA) instead of private practice or to do private practice while in government service by effecting required changes to the 2012 GR.

The petitioner Dr. Anil Rathod, a medical officer at a public Pune hospital since November 2015, had recently cleared a diploma course and is discharging the duties. However, he claimed he was not being paid the salary that a specialist should receive. Thus, he started private practice at his clinic.  

Dr. Anil emphasized in his petition that several medical officers in the government service practice privately in order to reach out to the general public. Before the 2012 GR, medical practitioners were allowed to practice privately but are now forced to accept the NPA.

Rathod also stressed his financial responsibilities since he took huge loans for his private hospital.

The bench will hear the petitions next on August 7.