Conditional service bonds do not constitute guarantees of government employment.

A recruitment or admission condition requiring candidates to execute a service bond agreeing to serve the government for a mandatory minimum period if selected does not operate as an unconditional promise of appointment by the State. Such clauses are protective covenants designed solely to safeguard public revenue and ensure that if the State exercises its discretion to absorb or appoint trained personnel, those individuals are bound to serve rather than abandon public service after receiving state-funded training. The obligation to serve arises only upon the happening of a contingent event—namely, the formal selection and appointment of the individual by the competent authority. Trainees cannot invert a conditional indemnity bond, which imposes obligations upon the candidate in the event of selection, into a promissory instrument or enforceable undertaking by the State guaranteeing immediate absorption into civil posts. (State of Uttar Pradesh and Ors. Vs Bhawana Mishra | 2026 INSC 38).