PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday directed the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) and Khyber Medical University (KMU) to respond to the plea of some Hafiz-i-Quran seeking 20 additional marks for memorising the Holy Quran during the medical and dental colleges admission process in the province.

A bench consisting of Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan and Justice Syed M Attique Shah issued notices to the KMU and PMC for the purpose, ordered the clubbing of the petition with identical ones, and fixed March 16 for the next hearing.

Seven petitioners, including Noor Mohammad and others, challenged the denial of 20 additional marks calling the move of the respondents against the rules.

The respondents in the petition are the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through its chief secretary, KMU through its vice-chancellor, and PMC and Higher Education Commission through their respective chairmen.

Hafiz-i-Quran moved PHC to claim 20 additional marks

Advocate Abbas Khan Sangeen appeared for the petitioners and said his clients had applied for admission to medical colleges through the KMU after completing the prescribed process.

He said the PMC, in collaboration with KMU, had uploaded the merit list on its website in respect of admissions, while the KMU the final merit list on Feb 10, 2022.

The counsel said the KMU had conducted the test for all candidates, who had applied under the quota of Hafiz-i-Quran.

He claimed at the time of formulating the merit list, 20 marks or its equivalent percentage were not awarded to them, which resulted in their failure to get admission to the medical and dental colleges under the KMU.

Mr Sangeen contended that 20 extra marks were added to those obtained by the Hafiz-i-Quran candidates under the rules and standard operating procedure of the KMU but the KMU and PMC didn’t do so in the instant case.

He claimed that the PMC, through a public notice on Feb 24, had shifted all vacant seats available in the countrywide medical and dental colleges to the National Pool and thus, depriving petitioners of the chance to apply for a vacant seat in those colleges.

The counsel claimed that educational institutions across the country had been awarding extra marks to Hafiz-i-Quran students, but the KMU and PMC were reluctant to follow that rule.

He contended that the inaction of the respondents was arbitrary, so it was not sustainable in the eyes of the law.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2022