Syed MUFEED SHAH and another: s vs PRINCIPAL, KHYBER MEDICAL COLLEGE,

' FAQIR MUHAMMAD KHOKHAR, J.--- The petitioners seek leave to appeal under Article 185(3) of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan against judgment, dated 27-3-2003 passed by a learned Division Bench of the Peshawar High Court, Peshawar, in Writ Petition No,308 of 2003.

2. The petitioners were admitted in Khyber Medical College, Peshawar, for the first professional M.B.B.S. Course for the academic Session 1999-2000. They qualified first part of the first professional M.B.B.S. Examination. They availed three chances for the second part and cleared all the subjects except Anatomy theory. Therefore, the names of the petitioners were struck off the roll. They were expelled from the college in the light of the Regulations of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (hereinafter referred to as the Council) and the prospectus of N.-W.F.P. Medical and Dental Colleges. The petitioners filed Writ Petition No,308 of 2003 which was dismissed by a learned Division Bench of the Peshawar High Court, by the impugned judgment, dated 27-3-2003. Hence this petition for leave to appeal.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioners argued that the petitioners had been discriminated against in violation of Article 25 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It was contended that in the Province of Punjab, four chances were allowed to students to qualify first professional examination of M.B.,B.S. Course whereas the N.-W.F.P. Government had allowed only three chances to such students. The learned counsel relied on the case of Miss Sakina Begum v. The Selection Committee for Bolan Medical College, Quetta 1995 SCMR 334. The learned counsel submitted that the expulsion of the petitioners from college by the respondents was arbitrary. By accepting necessary fees and other dues from the petitioners, legal rights had accrued in their favor so as to entitle them to appear in the first professional, Part-II of the M.B.,B.S. Supplementary examination 2003. Reliance was placed on the case of Chairman, Selection Committee/Principal King Edward Medical College, Lahore and 2 others v. Wasif Zamir Ahmed and another 1997 SCMR 15.

4. On the other hand, the learned Advocate-General, N.-W.F.P. Submitted that in the past four chances were allowed to such students when it was a five years course for the M.B.,B.S. However, the N.-W.F.P. Government changed its policy in the light of Regulations of the Council whereby the duration of the M.B.,B.S. Course was reduced to four years. Therefore, first and the second half of the course of 1st professional examination of the M.B.,B.S. Was required to be cleared by the students in three chances each. The learned Law Officer argued that the question of discrimination did not arise in the present case as the policy of N.-W.F.P. In respect of all the students in all the colleges was uniform and consistent. The learned Law Officer placed reliance on the cases of University of the Punjab and another v. Mst. Samea Zafar Cheema and 4 others 2001 SCMR 1506; Ali Yousaf and another v. Chairman of Academic Council and Principal, Dow Medical College, Karachi and others 2000 SCMR 1222, Syed Mufeed Shah v. Principal Khyber Medical College, Peshawar and 4 others 2003 CLC 1348; Saleem Akbar and 4 others v. Principal and Chairman Joint Admission Committee, Khyber Medical College, Peshawar and 4 others 2002 CLC 338; Syed Khurram Rizvi v. The Principal Baqai Medical College, Karachi and 3 others 1999 CLC 1692 and Shahid Ali v. Karachi University through Vice-Chancellor and 3 others 1998 CLC 1449.

5. We have heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Advocate-General, N.- W.F.P. At length. The learned counsel for the petitioners had failed to point out any discriminatory treatment meted out to the petitioners qua other students of the N.-W.F.P. Which were similarly placed. The N.-W.F.P. Government by a policy decision followed the Regulations made by the Council under section 33 of the Medical and Dental Council Ordinance, 1962. We are not called upon to substitute the policy decision taken by the N.-W.F.P. Government which was not shown to be arbitrary or unreasonable. The condition No,16 of the prospectus 1999-2000 for eligibility of the students for examination clearly provides that any student who fails to clear the Ist professional M.B.,B.S. Part-II examination in three chances availed or unavailed shall cease to become eligible for further medical education in Pakistan. A somewhat similar view was taken in the cases of Ali Yousaf (supra), Ms. Fabiha Parvez v. Peoples Medical College for Girls, Nawabshah and others PLD 1999 Karachi 394 and Akhtar Ali Javed v. Principal Quaid-I-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur 1994 SCMR 532. The plea of estoppel against law is not available to the petitioners. The impugned judgment does not suffer from any legal infirmity so as to warrant interference by this Court.

6. For the foregoing reasons, we do not find any merit in this petition which is dismissed and leave to appeal is refused accordingly.