Retirement Age Of Vet Doctor Should Match Allopathic, Ayush Doctors: MP High Court

e Madhya Pradesh High Court ruled to hike the retirement age of veterinary doctors to par with Allopathic and Ayush doctors while hearing a petition on May 19, 2025. The bench of Chief Justice Suresh Kumar and Justice Vivek Jain held that Article 14 of the Constitution of India can be used to challenge discriminatory retirement age policies of the government.

While hearing the petition from Dr O P Singh and several other veterinary doctors in the state, the court ruled in favour of them and directed the state to amend the rules and increase the retirement age of veterinary doctors to 65, in parity with other doctors.

Arguments:

The counsel from the petitioners' side argued that the age of medical doctor has been increased in 2011 from 62 to 65 years, specifically excluding veterinary doctors and that it violates the fundamental right under Article 14 of the constitution of India.

The State's counsel argued that fixing the retirement age of any employee is a policy decision and is an exclusive prerogative of the employer. The other argument was that the decision to not increase the retirement age of veterinary doctor was conscious as there is no shortage of these doctors unlike the medical doctors and there is no need to increase the age of retirement of them.

The State's counsel cited the data that there are about 1,671 sanctioned posts of veterinary doctors and 1,395 are filled. The other differences between veterinary and medical doctors lie in their different recruitment rules, educational qualifications, and service condition, stressing increasing retirement age for veterinary doctors is not required.

Article 14 Of The Constitution Of India:

Article 14 of the Constitution of India tells about equality before the law and equal protection of the law for everybody. It reads, "The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India."

Court's Observation:

It noted that the veterinary doctors are recruited as per the Madhya Pradesh Veterinary Services (Gazetted) Recruitment Rules, 2007, which was amended in 2011.

Notably, the retirement age for medical doctors was increased from 62 to 65 years in 2011 and for Ayush doctors in 2017. The court noted no difference in the retirement age of Allopathy and Ayush doctors.

Court's Judgement:

After hearing the arguments, the court held that the government has the right to make policies, but there should not be an 'arbitrary or discriminatory classification'.

It held, "Merely saying that the Allopathic Doctors and Ayush Doctors are treating human patients by adopting their own method cannot be equated with Veterinary Doctors as they are treating non-human patients, is not acceptable."

"In our view, a veterinarian or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicines. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals", said the court.

The court directed the state government to amend the rules and create an appropriate provision to bring parity in the retirement age of veterinary doctors and medical doctors.