SHC stays announcement of MDCAT results

Karachi: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday granted injunction against announcement of the Medical & Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) results and restrained the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) and others from proceeding further.

The interim order came on petitions against irregularities and leakage of test papers of the medical and dental colleges admission test (MDCAT).

The petitioners, who had appeared for MDCAT, challenged the validity of the test results on the grounds that they were tainted by examination paper leakage. They alleged that the administration of the MDCAT was complicit in facilitating access to selected candidates by providing them with the leaked examination papers.

A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar inquired a law officer how many candidates had secured more than 195 marks in the test as the high court wanted to compare these results with other provinces.

The petitioners’ counsel submitted that more than 1,100 students had obtained 187 and above marks in the test.

A PMDC counsel submitted that two candidates had obtained 199 marks in Punjab. The chief secretary submitted that the numbers of KP and Punjab candidates ha not been received and they could be matched with the results from Sindh after complete results from these provinces had come.

The chief secretary and health secretary submitted that a committee had been proposed to probe the allegations of irregularities and paper leakage.

The high court observed that a competent authority should inquire the allegations with regard to irregularities and leakage of papers. The bench observed that the committee may examine the allegations and fix responsibility on persons in case of irregularities and leakage of test papers.

The SHC observed that the committee should complete its inquiry within two weeks and submit a report. In the meantime, the high court stayed the announcement of the MDCAT results.