PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has declared that students from tribal districts can only get admission in public sector medical and dental colleges on seats reserved for those areas and not against open merit seats.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmad ruled that admission policy 2023-24 incorporated in the prospectus of Khyber Medical University, based on Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Act, 2022, was neither violative of any statutory law or rules or regulations nor discriminatory, calling for interference by the court.

The bench rejected petition of a female student from Mohmand tribal district, Ms Nigareen, challenging the admission policy. The bench observed that it was by now settled through various judgements that it was not the function of high court to make interference in the policymaking domain of universities/institutions or even the executive, unless it was violative of law or statutory rules and regulations.

The petitioner had requested the court to declare as illegal and unfair the impugned admission policy with regard to open and reserved seats allocation and selection.

Bench declares admission policy of Khyber Medical College valid

The petitioner had also requested to declare as illegal the binding of candidates by the respondents including KMU to apply for each category separately and non-consideration by the respondents of a candidate for not having applied for a specific category of seats.

The petitioner’s counsel stated that she belonged to merged district of Mohmand and had passed her secondary school certificate and intermediate examinations from Peshawar board.

He said that the petitioner was also successful in MD-CAT test having secured 159 marks out of 200.

He stated that the petitioner was placed at Serial No.66 of the merit list from Mohmand district with overall aggregate of 86.1, but she could not get admission in public sector medical colleges against the reserved seats for Mohmand district being low on merit as compared to other candidates.

He argued that as many as 22 candidates, who belonged to Mohmand district, having better merit positions as compared to candidates of settled areas, could have been granted admission on open merit instead of reserved seats, but it was not done.

He said that if those 22 were accommodated against open merit seats, the petitioner as well as several other candidates from that district could have been given admission against reserved seats.

Senior lawyer Abdul Munim Khan appeared for KMU and stated that the impugned admission policy provided different categories of seats.

He said that as per that policy, candidates having domicile of former Fata could apply for admission against 333 seats reserved for those areas, 75 seats under the HEC

Fata Project and 149 general self-finance seats, therefore no discrimination was made against the petitioner and other similarly placed candidates.

Apart from those, he stated, there were open merit seats, which were open to applicants possessing valid domicile certificate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including backward areas of the province.

The bench observed that if the candidates of former Fata were allowed admission against open merit seats, having higher merit score then they would capture more seats and deprive the candidates of settled and backward areas.

The bench further observed that if that practice was exercised as argued by the petitioner’s counsel, then it would be discrimination with the candidates of settled areas, who had been restrained to apply against 333 reserved seats plus 75 (merged area project seats/HEC scholarship seats), which were subsidised and financed from the tax collected from the settled areas because the residence of former Fata enjoyed exemption from payment of taxes.

“In our view, the admission policy is based on reasonable classification being based on Article 37 of Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973,” the bench ruled.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2024