A notification issued by the state health department on December 31, posting Aniket Mahata to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, surfaced on Saturday.

A senior health department official said: “We have communicated the order about his posting to the hospital authorities and also to his lawyers. We have complied with the court’s directions.”

However, Mahata denied receiving any communication. “I have not received any such email,” he said.

“I have not received any letter at my home address in Jhargram. I could not see any notification on the health department’s website either. I have also not received any communication from RG Kar Medical College authorities,” Mahata said.

The Supreme Court had last month directed the Bengal government to post Mahata at RG Kar “within two weeks”.

Mahata, who became a prominent face of the 2024 junior doctors’ protests, announced on Friday that he would no longer pursue serving as a senior resident under the state government. He cited the state’s refusal to post him at RG Kar despite court orders as his reason for opting out. Earlier, on Thursday, he resigned from the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, where he was president of the board of trustees.

Medical students who complete postgraduate studies from state-run medical colleges in Bengal are required to serve three years in government hospitals. Those who do not serve must pay ₹10 lakh per year in penalties.

Faced with a potential ₹30 lakh bond for opting out, Mahata on Friday appealed for crowdfunding.

“I come from a lower-middle-class family and do not have the means to pay ₹30 lakh. I am appealing to everyone to help me pay the government this money,” he said at a news conference.

Mahata, along with fellow junior doctors Debashis Halder and Asfakulla Naiya, had approached the courts after the state government refused to post them at their preferred hospitals following merit-based counselling for senior residents. While Halder and Naiya joined the hospitals where they were posted, Mahata refused to report.

In December, the Supreme Court directed the state government to post Mahata at RG Kar as a senior resident in anaesthesiology “within two weeks” after dismissing the state’s appeal against previous orders by a Calcutta High Court single-judge bench and division bench, which had instructed the government to post him at RG Kar instead of Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital.

The December 31 notification, signed by a deputy secretary, stated that Mahata was posted for one year and should join within seven days from the notification.