LAHORE: A medical graduate from Afghanistan has asked the Lahore High Court to set aside the examination rules of the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) for foreign graduates for being “unlawful and discriminatory”.

Azhar Kamran, a resident of Lahore, completed his medical education from Nangarhar University, Afghanistan, recognised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

He has been conferred with the same MD degree equivalent to MBBS and declared eligible for registration examination by the National Examination Board for foreign medical graduates.

The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Awais Khalid, argues that no passing criteria has been given in the PMC Act 2020 as well as the PMC Conduct of Examination Regulations 2021 for passing the National Licensing Examination (NLE).

He states that the passing criteria developed by the National Medical & Dental Academic Board requires 70 percent of the total marks, separate for Step-I and Step-II, whereas passing ratio for the similar professional examinations is 50pc in Pakistan and all over the world.

The counsel says the petitioner registered himself for the NLE with the PMC and passed Step-I, but after obtaining even more than 60pc marks has been declared “fail” in Step-II though no such criteria has been fixed in the law and the regulations.

He argues that the petitioner has been discriminated against and subjected to the NLE Step-II, whereas the graduates from Pakistan are exempted from this step. He says the attempts have also been restricted for foreign graduates.

He pleads that the petitioner successfully completed medical education recognised by the respondent (PMC) outside Pakistan, but has been discriminated against without any reasonable classification.

The counsel argues that the Step-II of the NLE being conducted by the respondents is ultra vires to the provisions of section 20 of the PMC Act 2020.

Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi would hear the petition on a date to be fixed by the registrar office, while notices have been issued to the respondents and also to the attorney general of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2021