Extending the stay till further orders, a division bench presided by Justice Pratap Roy directed that the state health department recruit doctors for post graduate courses on merit and not to give incentive marks to doctors serving for three or more years in government-designated remote areas.
Considering the dearth of qualified doctors serving in remote areas in the country, the Medical Council of India had in 2008 introduced an incentive for junior doctors serving in hospitals and health centres in these areas.
Such doctors were to be given a grace mark of 10 to 30 marks in admission tests to the postgraduate MD course.
The MCI had, however, left it to the state governments to determine which places were to be demarcated as remote areas.
A single bench of the high court had earlier upheld the state government's order of November 18, 2011, outlining criteria to classify remote health areas.
Papiya Biswas and several other junior doctors in an appeal have challenged the demarcation made by the government alleging that while places near to the metropolis were marked as remote area, several places which were far from any urban area were not, thus depriving deserving candidates.
The matter would come up for hearing again four weeks after summer vacation.