Supreme Court Hears Plea Seeking 12-Hour Daily, 48-Hour Weekly Duty Limit for Resident Doctors
Supreme Court hears plea seeking 12-hour daily and 48-hour weekly duty limit for resident doctors
The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned a plea filed by the United Doctors Front (UDF) seeking enforcement of a 1992 Central Government notification limiting resident doctors’ duty hours to 12 hours a day and 48 hours a week.
The Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale was hearing the petition.
Advocate-on-Record Charu Mathur appeared for the UDF and informed the Court that the National Medical Commission (NMC) had already filed its response. She submitted that the concerned union had not filed its response despite service being complete.
Clarifying its role, counsel appearing for the NMC told the Court, “I am not appearing for the union. I am for NMC.”
The NMC counsel submitted that implementation of conditions relating to prolonged working hours ultimately falls at the State and hospital levels, where the regulatory requirements have to be implemented.
The counsel also pointed out that the relevant regulatory framework dates back to 1992, when provisions concerning the duty hours of resident doctors were already put in place.
The Court directed that the office of Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati be served again.
The matter has been adjourned to October 27.
The Bench had sought the response of the Union of India, the National Medical Commission (NMC), and State Governments on the plea, which alleged “systemic exploitation” of resident doctors across medical colleges and teaching hospitals.
About the petition
The writ petition filed under Article 32 by the United Doctors Front (UDF), a registered body representing medical professionals across the country, seeking urgent judicial intervention to curb the exploitative and unregulated working conditions of resident doctors in government and private medical institutions nationwide.
The petition highlights the long-standing non-compliance with the binding directives issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on June 5, 1992, which capped the working hours of resident doctors at a maximum of 12 hours per day and 48 hours per week.
"Despite the unequivocal directives issued by this Hon’ble Court in Writ Petition (Civil) Nos. 348–352 of 1985, wherein all State Governments, Universities, and Medical Institutions were directed to implement a Uniform Central Residency Scheme by 1993, the regulatory framework concerning duty hours and rest periods remains grossly unimplemented. Pursuant to the above decision, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, vide its Notification No. S.11014/3/91-ME(D) dated 05.06.1992, laid down binding norms fixing the maximum duty hours for Resident Doctors at 12 hours per day and 48 hours per week, with corresponding entitlements to weekly holidays and annual leave. However, even after more than three decades, these directions remain largely on paper, with medical institutions routinely violating the prescribed standards with impunity," the plea reads.
More than thirty years later, the petitioner submits, these directives continue to remain largely on paper. Resident Doctors across the country are routinely subjected to inhumane working hours, sometimes extending up to 100 hours a week, without adequate rest, leave, or safeguards to protect their physical and mental health.
Filed through Advocate-on-Record (AoR) Charu Mathur and drafted by Advocate Satyam Singh, the plea argues that this sustained exploitation constitutes a grave violation of the fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It also invokes the Directive Principles of State Policy under Articles 41 and 47, which mandate the State to secure humane conditions of work and promote public health.
The UDF’s petition draws attention to the findings of the National Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being of Medical Students, submitted in June 2024, which documented over 150 suicides among medical students in just five years. These incidents were directly linked to excessive work hours, sleep deprivation, stress, and institutional neglect.
“The matter has crossed administrative lapses and entered into the realm of fundamental rights violations,” the petition asserts, adding that “continued apathy towards Resident Doctors not only endangers their well-being but also compromises the quality of patient care.”
While the Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (PGMER-23) by the National Medical Commission refer vaguely to “reasonable working hours,” the petition highlights that they fail to prescribe enforceable thresholds or accountability mechanisms. The Office Memorandum dated September 6, 2020, issued by the AIIMS Registrar also reiterated the 1992 directive but has not translated into on-ground change.
The writ petition comes in the backdrop of scathing observations made by the Supreme Court in the RG Kar Medical College rape case, where the Court, on August 22, 2024, described the conditions under which Resident Doctors operate as “inhuman.” The bench had then observed that overburdened Resident Doctors working around the clock were a clear result of systemic and institutional failure.
"The recent remarks made by this Hon’ble Court in the RG Kar Medical College rape case on 22.08.2024, wherein the Court termed the working conditions of Resident Doctors as “inhuman”, only reinforce the systemic neglect and failure of the State to discharge its constitutional obligations under Articles 41 and 47 of the Constitution, which obligate the State to ensure humane conditions of work and public health," the PIL reads.
The petitioner has sought following directions from the Court; i) Issue a writ of Mandamus or an appropriate writ, order or direction to all government and private medical colleges/institutions in India to implement the residency duty hours as prescribed in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare’s Directive dated 05 June 1992 (Letter No. S-11014/3/91-ME (P)); and/or; ii) Issue a writ of mandamus or an appropriate writ, order, or direction to the concerned authorities to prepare and enforce duty rosters that respect the psychological and physical limitations of human beings, ensuring adequate rest between shifts, and/or.
Case Title: United Doctors Front (UDF) Regd v. Union of India
Bench: Justice MM Sundresh and Justice PB Varale
Hearing Date: September 17, 2026