SHC dismisses petitions against MDCAT results

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday dismissed petitions against alleged mismanagement and lack of transparency in the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) that was conducted by the Dow University of Health Sciences. observing that petitions are not maintainable.

Several medical students had challenged the MDCAT 2023-24 results submitting that when the MDCAT 2023-24 was re-conducted on November 19 by the DUHS, the test paper was leaked again and sold for Rs1.1 million the night before.

They said the question paper was identical to that of the previous MDCAT held on September 10, and thus the test had once again become controversial because the sanctity of the exam was compromised.

They said the use of en masse unfair means in the MDCAT has on the one hand shattered the confidence of the public in the examination system, and on the other hand, the piecemeal cancellation of the examinations would encourage the racket involved in the cheating.

The counsel for petitioners Nabeel Ahmed Khan and Jehangir argued that according to the unofficial results circulating on social media, a significant number of students had scored 200 out of 200 marks for the first time, which indicated that the test was compromised. They contended that this fact alone strongly suggested that those students might have accessed the test paper a day before the exam, raising serious concerns about the fairness and integrity of the test.

They made serious allegations against the MDCAT and the DUHS, and requested the court to restrain the respondents from finalising the list of successful candidates as well as the admission process for the session 2023-24 until the discrepancies in the MDCAT paper were adequately addressed.

The DUHS denied allegations with regard to the leakage of the paper and said it conducted the test with integrity and fairness. The DUHS submitted that no evidence of mismanagement, cheating, illegal action was reported from independent sources and no test paper was leaked before the test.

The university said its conduct was in accordance with the law and no violation of PMDC rules had been carried out. It was submitted that the petitioners were trying to prolong the admission process for MBBS and BDS programmes by making baseless allegations on the basis of false medical reports. The university sought dismissal of the petitions as not maintainable.

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council submitted that medical colleges and universities had to complete the admission process within the stipulated time and no concrete evidence with regard to mismanagement in the MDCAT has been received.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, after hearing arguments of the counsel, for reasons to be recorded later on, dismissed the petitions. The court also recalled the interim order issued earlier which restrained the PMDC and others from proceeding further after the MDCAT results.