LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday took notice of the closure of the central office of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and sought a reply from the federal government on the matter.

Justice Ayesha A. Malik instructed a deputy attorney general to ask the government as to who was the responsible for opening the locked office of the PMDC.

The judge was hearing petitions filed by several students of private medical colleges who had challenging the readmission policy of the Punjab government and the University of Health Sciences (UHS).

To a question about the PMDC’s role, the law officer stated that the office of the regulatory body remained closed since a decision came from the Islamabad High Court (IHC), striking down the establishment of the Pakistan Medical Commission, which had replaced the council. He said the record of the old admission policy was not available due to the closure of the council’s main office in Islamabad.

Seeks information from govt about the council

Justice Malik expressed serious concern over the affairs and directed the law officer to come up with clear answer from the government as to who would unlock the PMDC office.

The judge also directed the law officer to present a copy of the IHC decision on next hearing.

Meanwhile, the judge extended the stay against transfer of the students of the private medical colleges under the readmission policy. Hearing was adjourned till March 10.

Previously, the counsel, representing the students, argued before the court that the petitioners had got admissions to different private medical & dental colleges in MBBS and BDS and started their study for session 2019-20. He said the provincial government and the UHS later introduced readmission policy on the pretext of violation of merit in admissions. He said the university claimed to have received complaints from the students affected by the admission policy of the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) under which the candidates were to choose three colleges at the most in their ‘order of preference’.

The counsel said the government decided to seek fresh ‘order of preference’ for all private medical and dental colleges of the province. He argued that the readmission police would disturb the education of the students and would ruin their career. He prayed to the court to set aside the impugned policy and order the UHS and the government to sustain admissions of the petitioners made under the PMDC policy.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2020