MP HC: Veterinary Surgeons Entitled To Same Career Progression Benefits As Dental Surgeons, Medical Officers

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld a single judge's order directing that veterinary surgeons be granted the benefit of Assured Career Progression (ACP), or "Kramonnati", on par with Dental Surgeons and Medical Officers, rejecting the State's contention that the two categories of doctors could not be treated equally for higher pay scale.

A Division Bench of Justice Anand Pathak and Justice B.P. Sharma dismissed a writ appeal by the State against an order dated January 7, 2026, by which the writ court had directed the Principal Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy, to extend time scale of pay to Veterinary Assistant Surgeons and Veterinary Surgeons at 5, 10, 15 and 30 years of service, the benchmark available to Dental Surgeons and Medical Officers.

The petitioners, working as Veterinary Assistant Surgeons and Veterinary Surgeons, had contended that while Dental Surgeons and Medical Officers got the time scale benefit at 5, 10 and 15 years, veterinary doctors waited until 8 years, despite comparable work.

Appearing for the appellant State, Addl. A.G. Smt. Janhavi Pandit argued that veterinary surgeons, governed by the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department, and medical or dental officers, governed by the Public Health and Family Welfare Department, functioned under separate sets of service rules and could not claim parity. She relied on the Supreme Court's ruling in State of Gujarat and Others vs. Dr. P.A. Bhatt and Others, to argue that non-grant of parity did not violate Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

Shri Manikant Sharma, for respondent no.1, opposed the appeal, submitting that a 2008 government notification had already revised and equalised the pay scales of both services, and that the State, as a "Model Employer," could not discriminate once pay parity existed. He relied on a Delhi High Court Division Bench ruling in Dr. Chandra Shekhar Sahukar vs. Union of India, which had held veterinary surgeons entitled to the benefit of Dynamic ACP on par with Medical and Dental officers under the Central Health Services, an order the Supreme Court declined to interfere with, dismissing the Union of India's challenge in 2018.

The Bench first condoned a 13-day delay in filing the appeal, accepting the State's explanation that it was caused by the time taken to obtain legal opinion from the Advocate General's office and process the file through the law department.

On the substantive issue, the court noted that the State itself already extended veterinary surgeons the same pay scale and other service benefits as their medical and dental counterparts, and could not carve them out as an exception when it came to higher pay scale. "Petitioner has specifically mentioned the fact that all these services carry equal pay, which has not been rebutted by counsel for respondents in their reply," the Bench observed, adding, "Even otherwise, all three professionals are healers of society. First set of doctors heal human beings and veterinarian heals animals, which are voiceless beings, therefore, no distinction can be made."

The Bench also distinguished the precedents cited before it, holding that the Gujarat ruling dealt with a different pay scale between MBBS and Non-MBBS doctors and had no bearing on the question of ACP or Kramonnati at issue here.

In an unusual literary aside, the Bench quoted American humorist Will Rogers's remark that "Personally I have always felt that the best doctor in the world is the veterinarian. He can't ask his patient what is the matter. He is just got to know," while noting that veterinary surgeons in Madhya Pradesh serve a state where animal husbandry has grown into an industry, with over 80 percent of the rural population dependent on it.

Holding that the writ court had rightly granted parity, the Bench concluded the appeal was "devoid of any merits" and dismissed it, upholding the direction to extend ACP benefits to veterinary surgeons at par with Dental Surgeons and Medical Officers.

Case Title: The State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Dr. Vishnu Kumar Gupta and Others

Date of Order: September 15, 2026

Bench: Justice Anand Pathak and Justice B.P. Sharma