Lahore High Court extends suspension of PMDC directive — Dawn
The Lahore High Court in Pakistan has extended the suspension of a directive by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) that required Afghan medical students to return to Afghanistan. As Dawn reports, lawyers for the PMDC and the University of Health Sciences requested additional time to submit written responses to the students’ petitions.
Justice Khalid Ishaq granted these requests and adjourned the hearing to a date to be determined later. At the previous hearing on September 11, the court sought responses from the PMDC, the Ministry of Health, and the heads of the medical universities and colleges concerned by the case.
Challenge to the PMDC directive
On September 1, the PMDC issued a notice ordering Afghan students studying at Pakistan’s medical colleges to return to Afghanistan. The document also prohibited medical and dental colleges from admitting Afghan students or allocating seats to them in the current academic year.
On September 10, 13 Afghan students from various institutions in Lahore filed petitions against the directive. They study, among other institutions, at King Edward Medical University, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Medical and Dental College, and the Services Institute of Medical Sciences.
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Graduates’ petitions
During the hearing, the court also considered petitions by five Afghan medical graduates, filed the previous day and consolidated with the petitions of September 10. They stated that they completed a five-year MBBS program in 2021–2026 under the Allama Iqbal Scholarship administered by the Higher Education Commission, but the PMDC has not decided on their registration applications for several months.
The petitioners argue that without PMDC registration, they cannot complete the mandatory one-year internship required for medical practice. In their view, the PMDC Rules 2025 provide graduates with the right to an internship at an affiliated teaching hospital, while the PMDC Act 2022 does not grant the council the authority to order deportation.
The judge asked the graduates’ lawyer, Asad Jamal, to substantiate his clients’ right to demand a one-year internship in light of Pakistan’s current foreign policy. He must also explain the admissibility of the graduates’ petitions and the reasons for their wish to remain in the country after completing the MBBS program. The lawyer said that the graduates had a legitimate expectation of completing an internship after their studies.
