Indore, February 27 – The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday directed the Director of Medical Education (DME) of the state to return the original documents of a young tribal doctor, who completed his MBBS degree but left the college mid-way during his postgraduate course due to harassment and mental stress.
The court strictly ordered the DME to return the original documents by March 2, 2026, warning that repeated failure to comply with the direction will amount to “contempt proceedings," and fixed the matter for the next hearing on March 9.
Notably, the court had passed its order in the matter earlier on February 19, 2026, directing the management of the state government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College (known as MGM college), Indore, and the DME to return all original documents to the applicant; however, the authorities failed to comply with the direction.
The court was hearing a petition of Dr. Ajay Mandloi, a resident of the Barwani district, who completed his MBBS degree from MGM college in 2019 and was then allotted a seat for postgraduate MS in Gynaecology by the DME.
However, Mandloi vacated the seat without completing his PG, alleging extensive ragging, due to which he became mentally ill and developed serious disorders, and attempted suicide, according to the petition he filed through senior advocate Aditya Sanghi.
Dr. Mandloi, who belongs to the tribal community and is the son of a primary school teacher in Barwani district, had expressed his inability to pay the Rs 30 lakh "seat leaving bond."
The concept of a "seat leaving bond," a common practice, especially for medical students pursuing postgraduate courses, is to address the issue of seat blocking and the wastage of medical seats. The rule mandates that students who wish to leave their course mid-way have to pay a Rs 30 lakh "seat leaving bond."
"This is a big relief for Dr. Mandloi because without the original documents, he cannot join any service and earn a livelihood, although he did his MBBS way back in 2019. The issue of the seat leaving bond was even discussed in parliament, and it was directed to all states to review the bond policy, but few states, including Madhya Pradesh, are continuing with it," advocate Aditya Sanghi told IANS.
Notably, this "seat leaving bond" has been a matter of debate among medical students and practicing doctors in Madhya Pradesh.
In 2024, a 24-year-old female doctor, Akanksha Maheshwari, who was pursuing her PG in Pediatrics from Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal, died by suicide in her hotel room. Before ending her life, she had sent a WhatsApp message to her father that – “Sorry papa, if I had money, I could have left the seat.”