KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday issued notices to the provincial health secretary, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and others in a petition seeking publication of the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) retake questionnaire on the website.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Arshad Hussain Khan, issued the notices to the respondents, including the health secretary, PMDC, Sukkur Institute of Business Administration (SIBA), SIBA Testing Services (STS) and Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), and directed them to submit, scheduling a date for the hearing till Jan 15, 2025.

Around 10 candidates, who appeared in the MDCAT retake filed a petition through their counsel Jibran Nasir, seeking direction for SIBA to upload the questionnaire on its website.

In their petition, the counsel submitted that the MDCAT retake was administered in three versions — A, B, and C— containing identical questions arranged in differing sequences.

It further stated that the petitioners had carbon copies of their answer sheets, but absence of the question papers prevented them from cross-verifying if the answers in the provided answer keys were correct.

The counsel claimed that the MDCAT question paper might contain errors or queries outside the prescribed syllabus. While rising the concern, the counsel said it was based on documented trends from previous MDCAT examinations, where several irregularities were reported, including flawed questions and deviation from the officially outlined syllabus.

“Such issues compromise the fairness, transparency and merit of the examination process, potentially disadvantaging candidates,” the petitioner said.

The counsel prayed before the court to direct the concerned authority to publish or upload the questionnaire of all versions on their official website and allow students a specified period to submit their grievances regarding the question paper in accordance with the law.

He also submitted that non-disclosure of the questionnaire should be declared a violation of fundamental rights which was guaranteed in the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024