Cuttack: Orissa High Court Ruling on NOC for DNB Courses

Judgment Overview

In a significant ruling, the Orissa High Court criticized a clause in the Odisha Government’s 2022 policy that prevented in-service medical officers from obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for admission to Sponsored DNB courses. This decision provided relief to Dr. Jamadar, an in-service doctor whose NOC application was denied based solely on the admission type. The bench, comprising Justices Manash Ranjan Pathak and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo, stated, “The decision of State not to grant NOC fails, being manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable, and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.”

Discrimination Against OMHS Cadre Doctors

The court highlighted the discriminatory nature of the policy, noting that the Odisha Government had established a framework to grant NOCs to doctors pursuing post-graduation. However, it unjustly differentiated between those in the Odisha Medical and Health Services (OMHS) cadre applying for DNB courses and those seeking sponsored degrees. The judges pointed out the absence of a rational basis for this differential treatment.

Case Background

The dispute involved an OMHS cadre medical officer who achieved an All India Rank of 87,721 in NEET-PG 2024 and applied for the NBEMS Centralized Counselling for Sponsored DNB seats. According to the eligibility criteria outlined in the NBEMS notification dated December 10, 2025, government doctors in regular service are eligible for sponsored seats. Despite meeting these criteria, the doctor was denied an NOC by the State Health Department through a letter dated January 20, 2025, citing Clause 5 of the departmental policy dated September 2, 2022, which specifically stated that “NOC will not be issued to the Medical Officers of OMHS cadre for the sponsored DNB course.”

Legal Arguments and Court Observations

In response to this denial, the petitioner argued before the High Court that other OMHS officers were granted NOCs for Non-Sponsored DNB and MD/MS courses, calling the classification irrational and unconstitutional. The bench examined the validity of such exclusions, concluding that they lacked a basis in statutory service rules and failed to demonstrate any intelligible classification, thereby violating Article 14, which assures equality before the law.

The judges noted, “There is no sufficient grounds stated… to indicate that there is any intelligible differentia between the doctors in the OMHS cadre who opt to study DNB (Post MBBS) in the sponsored category and those who do not.” Furthermore, the court emphasized that the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences and the National Medical Commission do not differentiate between DNB and Sponsored DNB, reinforcing the principle that discrimination among employees without justifiable reason is impermissible.

Conclusion of the Ruling

The court dismissed the State’s argument that granting NOCs for sponsored DNB would exacerbate issues in peripheral healthcare due to vacancies and administrative challenges in salary payments. Citing precedents from the Supreme Court, the bench insisted that decisions by authorities must be supported by clear reasoning.

In light of its findings, the court directed the authorities to issue the NOC to the petitioner. The bench ordered, “We allow the writ application directing the authorities to grant ‘No Objection Certificate’ to the petitioner-doctor working in the OMHS cadre to participate in the Centralized Merit Based Counseling for admission to Sponsored DNB (Post MBBS and Post Diploma) seats – 2025 admission session by January 2, 2026, enabling participation in the counseling before the deadline of January 8, 2026, as notified by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences.”

For further details on the order, please refer to the following link: [Order Document](https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/orissa-hc-sponsored-dnb-noc-319088.pdf)

Related News

Also Read: Odisha HC junks plea seeking reservation in Super specialty assistant professor posts