• 30 candidates of Ranipur institute are among 683 students who got over 190 marks in Sindh, bench told
• Judges ask CS to notify body to investigate, fix civil and criminal liability within fortnight

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday suspended the result of the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) and restrained the authorities from finalising and processing admissions on the basis of the exam result.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito also directed the chief secretary to notify a committee to conduct a thorough probe by fixing criminal and civil liability about the paper leak allegations within 15 days.

The bench was hearing a set of petitions filed by various candidates against the MDCAT held on Sept 22 in the province. They asked the court to declare the exam as “null and void” and to issue a directive for respondents to hold the admission test afresh.

At the outset of the hearing, the chief secretary, secretary of the boards and universities department, president of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), vice chancellors of the Dow University Health Sciences (DUHS), Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU), Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana and Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences and other officials appeared in court in compliance with the court order.

The bench heard the officials as well as petitioners’ lawyers including Khawaja Izharul Hassan, Shoaib Khatian and examined their statements.

The PMDC president submitted that 58,389 students had appeared in the MDCAT in Punjab and out of them 2,841 students got 190 plus marks.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 42,336 candidates had appeared and only 38 managed to secure 190 plus marks. In Sindh, over 38,000 students appeared in the test and 683 of them secured 190 plus marks, he added.

The bench remarked that it found many discrepancies after going through the record as there were variations in various places.

The court pointed out that some students got “lowest marks” in their board exam but they secured “190 plus marks” in the MDCAT. It also found that over 30 students of a Ranipur institute had secured 190 plus marks in the test.

At this, the chief secretary and health secretary suggested formation of a committee to investigate the issue.

The bench directed the chief secretary to notify a committee comprising Chief Minister Inspection Team (CMIT) chairperson Dr Shireen Narejo, former boards & universities secretary Mureed Rahimoon, the PMDC president or his nominee, director-cybercrime of the Federal Investigation Agency.

The committee could co-opt two members on its own and conduct a thorough probe by fixing criminal and civil liability within 15 days, the bench ruled.

It said that the committee would also be competent to seek assistance from any authority and to call record from the university concerned and PMDC, invite objections and hear the petitioners, if interested.

The boards and universities secretary submitted that in the light of the court order, he had held meetings with the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi, which had the capacity to accommodate around 10,000 students at once.

Adjourning the hearing till Oct 26, the bench also asked the secretary to hold consultation with other reputed testing agencies.

The petitioners have challenged the validity of the MDCAT results following allegations of paper leak.

They also recalled that the MDCAT held last year was also compromised and re-conducted after the news of paper leak was widely circulated on electronic and print media. They stated that it seemed that the respondents had not learned anything from their past mistakes and continued the same.

After the hearing, one of the petitioners’ counsel Khawaja Izhar of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan told the media that a large number of students in Sindh obtained over 190 marks in MDCAT which indicated that the paper was leaked.

He demanded stern action against the management of DUHS and PMDC.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2024