The resident doctors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences have called off their strike, Resident Doctors Association secretary Anil Sharma said.

The central government had asked the doctors to end their strike or face suspension.

The Delhi high court had earlier expressed concern over the strike and asked the government to take immediate action.

"We are conscious and we must be concerned. The government must act to sort out the problem because patients are facing problems," a bench comprising Chief Justice M K Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Khanna said.

"If you (Centre) do it today then its okay, but if you fail to resolve the crisis then we have to take action," the bench had said, adding that the government cannot deny certificates to doctors.

The court's observations came when advocate Agarwal informed the court that patients were suffering because of the strike.

Earlier, the doctors, who are demanding immediate issuance of degree certificates, will move the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, who was to leave for Bhutan this morning to attend a WHO meeting, cancelled his trip apparently due to the crisis.

Sharma said a senior lawyer was preparing the petition seeking a directive from the court to the government to immediately issue the certificates.

"We will plead before the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing in the matter as time is running out for a number of students who are planning to go abroad for higher studies," Sharma told PTI.

The decision to approach a court was taken at a late night general body meeting of the resident doctors.

With the September 1 deadline for submitting original certificates at foreign universities fast approaching, students claimed that any delay in signing of the certificates by the minister would jeopardise their future.

Ramadoss, the president of AIIMS, had on Wednesday refused to sign the certificate of degrees, a demand put forward by the agitating medical students, on the ground that they had the signature of Registrar Dr Sandeep Aggarwal, whose appointment he contended was illegal.

He refused to take the blame for the delay in the issue of certificates of about 700 pass-outs and held institute director P Venugopal responsible for it.