PMDC's 2019 admission regulations restored.

LAHORE -- A Lahore High Court division bench on Monday suspended a decision of a single bench and restored admission regulations 2019 framed by the (now-defunct) Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

A single bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti had on Oct 14 set aside the 2019 admission regulations and ruled that the PMDC had not been vested with any power under its ordinance 2019 as it then was to amend the protected MBBS and BDS (admission, house job and internship) regulations, 2018.

'Therefore, the action of the respondents relating to the amendments made in the said regulations by virtue of ordinance, 2019 are hereby declared ultra vires, void ab-initio and without lawful authority having no legal backing,' the single judge ruled and declared that excluding impugned amendments the admission shall be made on the basis of the formula given in protected regulations, 2018 framed by the acting PMDC on the direction of the Supreme Court.

Several dual national Pakistani students had challenged the amendments in the regulations for being unconstitutional and contrary to their fundamental rights.

The PMDC challenged the decision through an intra court appeal, which the division bench headed by Justice Ayesha A. Malik heard and granted the stay.

Representing the appeal, its legal adviser Barrister Chaudhry Umar argued that the single bench passed the impugned decision beyond facts. He said the PMDC had the powers to make and amend the regulations. Therefore, he said no illegality or irregularity had been committed nor modification in the existing regulations was beyond the scope of its power.

He further said the...