KARACHI, Aug 15: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab on Wednesday granted a stay against the rustication order of a student from the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Karachi, till Aug 31.

It also ordered the university administration to allow the petitioner to take classes and appear in exams till the next order.

Mohammad Usman Tariq, MBBS final year student of Dow Medical College, was rusticated for one year on July 21, 2007 under the Student Conduct Rule for participating in a protest against a raise in the examination fee.

The rustication memorandum was issued by the DMC principal, which was challenged in the SHC.

The DUHS administration recently increased the examination fee of first year MBBS from Rs2,100 to Rs2,500, which caused unrest among the students.

Advocate Abid, who appeared on behalf of DUHS, admitted the rustication order passed by the DMC principal was illegal and not issued in accordance with the law. He said he advised the university administration to review and withdraw it and sought time to furnish a report in this regard.—PPI