LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claims to have unearthed a “scam” in which a known private university in the provincial capital allegedly fleeced medical students by making admissions over and above the allocated numbers and by tailoring results of their choice.

The university vehemently denies any wrongdoing and blames an unsuccessful student for kicking up the storm for his vested interest.

After a prolonged inquiry, the FIA Corporate Crime Circle Lahore has lodged an FIR against the senior management of the University of Lahore, including controller examinations of the varsity’s college – the University College of Medicine and Dentistry (UCMD) – Asim Ali.

Case against top officials for fleecing students

The FIR against Mr Ali was lodged under sections 420, 468, 471, 409, 109, 477-A of Pakistan Penal Code and other laws.

The FIA/CCC also recommended action against some other suspects including University of Lahore chairman M.A. Rauf, Dean Shahid Mahmood Malik, and former controller examinations Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam. They face serious charges while making admissions to the college, both against the MBBS and BDS seats.

According to the FIR, the college management would make admissions over and above its quota of the MBBS/BDS seats. After collection of hefty fees, the surplus students would be dropped at some later stage citing flimsy reason.

For instance in one practice mentioned in the probe the students would be made to use lead pencil to write down their answers in examinations. According to the FIA’s findings the answers would be tinkered with to fail some of them to keep the number of students within the allocated figure. Some students, it appears, were never formally on the rolls of the college. That is they were never registered with the PMDC.

The FIA obtained original papers (First Professional Part II Second Annual 2013 and MCQs and SEQs) of a UCMD student, Mian Waleed Hayat. The officials sent MCQs papers of First Professional Part II Anatomy (Roll No 079041) to handwriting expert at technical wing at the FIA Headquarters in Islamabad for analysis.

The results of the analysis were revealing. The report of the technical wing -- received on Sept 8, 2015 -- said the papers bore fake signature of the student and his handwriting had been forged.

This raised serious suspicions about the involvement of the chairman of the UCMD, M.A. Rauf, Dean Shahid Mahmood Malik and former controller examinations Chaudhry Aslam in the wrongdoing. However, Asim Ali, who was serving as deputy controller examinations at that time, was “found” to be directly involved as these papers carried his signatures.

According to the charges levelled in the FIR, Mian Waleed Hayat got admission to MBBS in the UCMD in 2010. When he applied for admission, Rs700,000 per annum were settled between the varsity management and the student.

According to the FIR, Waleed’s father Chaudhry Khyzar Hayat had alleged that later the varsity backed out of this commitment and forcibly received an additional Rs200,000 from the student. “We received threatening letters from the varsity that my son would be de-registered from the PMDC if the fee was not paid,” the complainant said.

He stated that his son was not allowed to sit the First Professional Part-II First Annual 2012 examination despite the fact that he had deposited fee in favour of the varsity, through a cheque. The varsity refused to allow him to appear in the exams claiming that only a cash deposit was acceptable. The refusal cost his son a crucial year.

Waleed finally appeared in the supplementary exam the following year after paying the fee in cash. “My son took the examination held in February 2013 and passed three subjects but failed in ‘anatomy’. In the second and third attempts he was again declared fail in the same subject,” Khyzar Hayat stated.

He stated that as per the PMDC criteria, a student shall be dropped out of course if he/she fails in four consecutive attempts to clear an exam. The varsity was able to drop Waleed only after three attempts for the simple reason that he was not registered with the PMDC despite the fact that, according to the father, Waleed had been charged more than Rs3 million. The exact amount he had paid was: Rs3,118,500.

According to the FIR, the medical university was allowed 50 additional admissions in 2011 over the 100 allocated seats but it admitted another 50 to make money and in violation of the PMDC criteria.

It further says that the university had shown an attached hospital comprising 800 beds but that existed only on paper, meaning that an important criteria for such an institution remained unmet.

University of Lahore chairman M.A. Rauf strongly denied the allegations levelled in the FIR. He said the student was using these tactics to exert pressure on the varsity management to grant him passing marks in the subject in which he had failed over and over again.

The student “had earlier used all the forums including courts and the PMDC and lost his case. He has exhausted all the four chances given to him by the PMDC’s rules and regulations and has failed to pass the anatomy paper,” Mr Rauf said, denying that Waleed Hayat had made only three attempts to clear the exam.

To a question about the allegation that the university management has been tampering with the answer-sheets to alter results, he repeated that this was all aimed at influencing the university to give him passing marks.

About the FIR registered by the FIA, Mr Rauf said this was beyond his comprehension since the student had already lost his case in court and in the PMDC.

“Let me again advise the student to move a higher court and let it decide whether he had used up the four attempts to clear the exam or not,” Mr Rauf said. “The university will accept the decision of court.”

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2015

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