LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has suspended the federal government`s policy of regulation of admission to private medical colleges and sought a report from the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza passed the order on a petition moved by Jannat Sardar Sheikh and other students who had applied for admission to a private college for bachelors in medical sciences.

Advocate Ashfaq Ahmad Malik argued on behalf of the petitioners that the PMDC issued a notification on Oct 27, 2016, to do away with SAT-II examination for the purpose of entry into medical colleges.

The counsel said the petitioners were seeking admission to a private medical college that offered admission on the basis of either the National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) entrance test or SAT-II test.

He said the petitioners took the SAT-II test and the result was announced on Oct 27, the day the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council issued the impugned notification.

He said in this way petitioners were made ineligible for admission to the college.

The counsel argued that the impugned policy of the government was unconstitutional and discriminatory in nature.

He asked the court to strike down the Oct 27 notification issued by the PMDC.

Justice Mirza suspended the impugned notification and sought a reply from the PMDC and other authorities concerned by Nov 29.