LHC extends suspension of PMD directive, blocks expulsion of Afghan medical students

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday extended the suspension of a Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) directive requiring Afghan medical students to return to Afghanistan, after lawyers representing the council and a medical university sought additional time to file their replies before the court. In earlier proceedings, the LHC Justice Khalid Ishaq had sought replies from the concerned respondents, including the PMDC, the health ministry and the vice chancellors of the medical universities and colleges. However, during the current proceedings, the legal counsel representing PMDC and the University of Health Sciences (UHS) approached Justice Ishaq for an extension of time to submit their respective written response. The judge allowed their requests and adjourned the hearing on the case. Read: LHC halts expulsion of Afghan medical students During the hearing, Justice Ishaq also heard a plea filed by five Afghan medical graduates yesterday seeking PMDC registration to pursue their house jobs. The petitioners said they completed a five-year MBBS programme during 2021-26 under the Higher Education Commission (HEC)-administered Allama Iqbal Scholarship, but the PMDC had “left their registration applications undecided for months”. The petitioners told the court that without PMDC registration, they cannot enrol in the mandatory year-long house job required to practice medicine. They said the lack of response stalled their careers despite having fulfilled their academic requirements. Building on their case, they said PMDC’s 2025 regulations granted graduating students a right to a house job placement at their affiliated teaching hospital, and that the council’s governing 2022 Act did not empower it to order deportations. Justice Ishaq clubbed the plea with those filed on September 10. He asked the counsel for the petitioners to justify “the right” of the applicants to seek a year-long house job in cognisance of Pakistan’s current foreign policy regarding Afghans living in the country. “Why do the graduates wish to continue their stay in Pakistan despite completing their MBBS programme?” Justice Ishaq asked the applicant’s counsel. The counsel responded that the graduates had a legitimate expectation of a house job after the completion of their degree programme. Read more: Afghan medical students in limbo Justice Ishaq directed the counsel to convince the court on the maintainability of the plea in the backdrop of Pakistan’s current foreign policy. A large number of Afghan medical students were present at the court for the hearing. It is worth mentioning that the PMDC had issued a notification on September 1, passing directions to the Afghan medical students enrolled in institutions to return to Afghanistan. The notification also barred medical and dental colleges from granting admission or placement to Afghan students for the current academic session. In response to the directive, a number of petitions were filed by the Afghan students enrolled at different institutions in Lahore, including King Edward Medical University, Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Medical and Dental College and the Services Institute of Medical Sciences.