KARACHI: After the Lahore High Court, the Sindh High Court has also suspended the operation of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) directives revoking the admissions of Afghan medical students.
A two-judge constitutional bench of the SHC headed by Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon also restrained the federal government from taking any coercive action against the petitioners.
Citing the Ministry of Interior, Cabinet Division, PMDC, Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and others as respondents, Arifa, Hania Nazari and Syed Banaras have petitioned the SHC against the PMDC notices.
Petitioners’ lawyers Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed and Jibran Nasir argued that their clients were students at the DUHS under the Allama Mohammad Iqbal Scholarship Programme and were in the final years of the MBBS degree.They also asserted that before issuing the impugned orders, neither any show-cause notice was issued nor any hearing took place, which in any event were vague and did not specify any policy direction.
The lawyers further contended that the petitioners have valid Pakistani visas and if admissions were revoked and they were forcibly deported from the country, their careers would be seriously jeopardised.
They also informed the bench that the Lahore High Court had passed an order last week in similar circumstances wherein operation of the impugned orders was suspended.
After a preliminary hearing, the bench issued notices for Sept 29 and said, ‘In the meanwhile, the impugned notices shall remain suspended, and till then, no coercive action shall be taken by the respondents against the petitioners.
Last week, the LHC had suspended the operation of PMDC directives ordering Afghan medical students to return to their country.