GUJRAT: Scores of students of Hashmat Medical and Dental College (HM&DC) have refused to receive the cheques of refund of excessive fee charged by the management at the time of admission for the session 2016-17.

The students say the refund amount is less than what the college is supposed to return.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to make the HM&DC pay back the excessive fee charged from around 50 students out of 98. The court had also ordered the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) in April last to make arrangements to adjust these 98 students to various private medical colleges of Punjab after they were given two chances of passing the MBBS Part 1 examination to be conducted by the Riphah University.

Gujrat FIA Assistant Director Mirza Sarfraz told Dawn that the FIA had received 45 cheques of different amounts including one of Rs8.3 million from Hashmat Medical College’s administration to refund the excessive fee collected form the students of 2016-17 session. However, he said, the students had declined to accept these cheques and they were demanding the repayment of excessive hostel and transport charges as well as fee and donations.

Asked why the college had issued 45 cheques when the number of students in that session was 98, he said only the students who were charged donations and excessive fee by the college were eligible for the refund and those who were charged the routine fee could not get back the original fee since these students had spent one year in the college.

Meanwhile, at least 70 students who were enrolled by the HM&DC for the session 2017-18 are facing an uncertain future as the court ordered the PMDC to cancel the registration of the college in Jalalpur Jattan, remove it from its website and publicise in the media that the college is neither recognised by the PMDC nor is it a constituent or affiliated college of any university.

In compliance with court orders, the Gujrat FIA had lodged an FIR No 98/18 against Dr Usman Akhtar and Sajjad Dar of the HM&DC as well as some agents of the college under sections 420, 468, 471, 406, 477A, 384 and 109 of Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the FIR, the college received Rs2.6 million from the father of a student through an agent and Rs48.1 million in all from 98 students of the session 2016-17 for the MBBS first year. It also admitted 60-70 students to the session 2017-18 but their record was not produced to the FIA.

The FIA has yet to arrest any of the suspects nominated in the case. Officials say initially the suspects had got protective bails from the high court and were directed by court to appear in the trial court but none of them has appeared in the trial court so far.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2018