Covid-era doctors in Nagaland say Supreme Court order settles regularisation issue, warn that further obstruction may amount to contempt.
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DIMAPUR — Doctors appointed during the Covid-19 pandemic have said that the Supreme Court’s January 16 order has given finality to the regularisation of 97 Covid-era medical officers and that continued attempts to obstruct the process could amount to interference with administration of justice.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the doctors said that they were constrained to clarify facts in response to various publications regarding the “one-time special dispensation” undertaken by the department of Health and Family Welfare.
Tracing the genesis of the special recruitment drive, they reminded that in 2020, Nagaland faced unprecedented manpower shortages due to the pandemic, compelling the government to create new medical officer posts.
They stated that a notification dated July 5, 2020 had promised a Special Recruitment Drive (SRD) at a later date, with a one-time age relaxation up to 45 years, and that an open advertisement was issued on August 4, 2020.
Related: Supreme Court clears regularisation of 97 Covid-era medical officers in Nagaland
Nagaland regularises 97 Covid-era medical officers
Out of 168 posts advertised, 160 candidates applied, and selection was carried out through screening, shortlisting and interviews.
On why the process was not routed through the Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC), the doctors said that due to lockdown and urgency, a lengthy examination process would have defeated the purpose of the newly created posts.
The government therefore constituted a departmental recruitment board and conducted interviews, they stated, asserting that under Article 162, the state is empowered to create and fill posts based on situational needs. They maintained that regularisation was carried out on newly created posts, not existing NPSC-sanctioned seats.
The doctors rejected apprehensions that regularisation would harm current aspirants, stating that 30 medical officer posts are currently under NPSC recruitment and that many vacancies remain due to retirements.
It also detailed the hardships faced by healthcare workers during both waves of Covid-19, including shortages of protective equipment, stigma, repeated infections, extreme workloads, and psychological stress.
On the legal aspect, the doctors cited the Gauhati High Court (Kohima Bench) single bench judgment of August 1, 2025, which dismissed petitions against their regularisation on grounds of lack of locus standi and recognised the Cabinet’s power to take extraordinary decisions during a public health emergency. They stated that the Division Bench on December 13, 2025 upheld this reasoning.
They further noted that the Division Bench had ruled that Covid-era doctors could not be termed “backdoor appointees”, as they were recruited through a transparent, merit-based process during an unprecedented crisis, making them a distinct class justified by exceptional circumstances.
They also refered to the Supreme Court order of January 16, 2026, that “the present claim of the petitioners will have no bearing on the appointments already made by the state”, thereby upholding the regularisation process. “Continued attempts to obstruct the implementation of the said judgments may amount to interference with the administration of justice and could attract contempt of court proceedings,” it stated.