ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has ruled that the judiciary is not permitted to grant relief that contradicts a law or establish a right in favor of a litigant they do not possess under the law.
Justice Athar Minallah, in authoring the judgment and dismissing an appeal brought by medical students, emphasized that while every citizen unquestionably has the right to choose a profession or trade, this right is not absolute.
Justice Minallah was part of a three-judge Supreme Court bench, alongside Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, which heard the appeal of medical students who had become ineligible to continue their studies after failing their professional exams four times. Ms. Sundas, Ms. Naila Khan, and Ms. Reema Naz contested the consolidated order issued by the Peshawar High Court on Feb 12, 2020, which also rejected the appeals of enrolled students of Khyber Medical University.
The Supreme Court’s judgment explained that medical institutions’ operations and students’ eligibility to pursue medical studies are governed by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC), established under the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Ordinance, 1962. The PM&DC, exercising its authority under Section 33 of the ordinance established admissions criteria for MBBS/BDS courses and conditions for house job/internship/foundation year regulations in 2013.
These regulations explicitly define the criteria for the right to continue medical studies, stating that a student who fails the first or second professional examination in four attempts, regardless of whether the attempts were utilized or not, is no longer eligible to pursue medical or dental studies. Such a student is also ineligible to seek admission as a new student.
These regulations are binding on all recognized medical institutions, including KMU. Consequently, the eligibility criteria were duly incorporated by the university into its own regulations.
The petitioners failed to pass their examinations after four attempts, rendering them ineligible to continue their medical studies in accordance with the regulations. Prior to the revocation of their registrations by KMU, the petitioners filed separate lawsuits in civil courts. Injunctive orders were issued, instructing KMU to allow the petitioners to retake their examinations, which enabled them to continue their medical studies despite losing eligibility according to the regulations. KMU subsequently notified the cancellation of the petitioners’ registrations, and these notifications were challenged in the Peshawar High Court, where they were ultimately dismissed.
The judgment emphasized that courts exercise great restraint in matters pertaining to educational institutions’ policies, discipline, and other academic affairs. Furthermore, the judgment noted that an authority regulating a trade or profession may establish minimum standards to safeguard the interests and welfare of the people in the context of exercising the right. It stressed that compassion and hardship cannot be considered when there is no room for them in the relevant laws.
