TEPS Awarded Contract To Conduct MDCAT Just After A Week Of Registration; IHC Told

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Oct, 2021 ) :Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday adjourned petitions till November 1, against the national Medical and Dental College Admission (MDCAT) contract and alleged irregularities in the computerized test.

Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the petition filed by the students and candidates participated in MDCAT.

Petitioner lawyer Adnan Randhawa Advocate adopted the stance that the contract to conduct the MDCAT was given to TEPS Company which was registered only one week before the agreement.

He further contended that the results of the tests were also full of mistakes and errors.

The PMC lawyer requested the court to adjourn the case till next date as the senior counsel was not in attendance.

Petitioners' lawyer Hassan Raza Pasha contended that a number of legal points were ignored in MDCAT examination as it was not standardized.

He said after 15 minutes of the tests, a number of students were given three results each.

He further said one student was given 150 numbers but later he was given 176 with extra 26 marks after review. There were a number of irregularities in MDCAT examination and then in its results, he added.

The lawyer argued that the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) had introduced review rules after the examination.

He said the petition had mentioned grounds regarding MDCAT contract, examination and results.

The court asked the petitioners to point out the examination regulations which violated in law.

The counsel said regulation No 3,4,6(2) and 10(2) were against the law, adding that there was no mention of computerized test.

The counsel further argued that he was not against the computerized test but this system had made a lot of mistakes in MDCAT.

He said even one mark was precious for the students to get admission in the medical college. The students were not given the option of rechecking of their papers under regulations, he added.

The lawyer said Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) had clarified that fee collected from students would fall in public funds and PPRA rules would be applied on it.

He informed the court the beneficiary company was not registered in the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan when it was given contract and it used the National Tax Number of another company.

He said this scandal also fall under jurisdiction of National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He said he wanted to submit written comments regarding examination regulations of the PMC.

After this, the hearing of the case adjourned till November 1.