KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday suspended Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) directives ordering Afghan medical students to return to their country until the next hearing on Sept 29.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon, heard the case after three Afghan students filed a petition challenging the PMDC notification as being without jurisdiction.

The PMDC issued a notification on September 1, directing Afghan medical students enrolled in Pakistani colleges “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.

The respondents listed in the petition include the state, the Ministry of Interior, the PMDC, the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), the inspector general of Sindh police and the SHO of Eidgah police station in Karachi.

The court subsequently issued notices to the respondents, the additional attorney general and advocate general Sindh for Sept 29.

“In the meanwhile, the impugned notices shall remain suspended and till then, no coercive action shall be taken by the respondents against the petitioners,” the order added.

The three students are enrolled at DUHS under the Allama Mohammad Iqbal Scholarship Programme and are expected to graduate in April 2027. The petition stated that the students hold valid Pakistani visas on their Afghan passports for the duration of their studies.

The petition argued that the impugned actions violated Articles 4, 9, 10-A, 14 and 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

Article 4 of the Constitution guarantees equal treatment to every person present in Pakistan. Articles 9 and 14 guarantee the rights to life, liberty and dignity to every person in Pakistan, irrespective of their citizenship status. Article 10-A guarantees the right to a fair trial and due process, while Article 25 prohibits discrimination.

The petition further argued that the female petitioners would face gender-based persecution and an absolute ban on female education in Afghanistan.

“The respondents’ assertion that repatriation will ‘enable continuation of studies’ is factually false and absurd,” it said.

“Forced return of female scholars would permanently destroy their educational and professional futures, condemn them to a life of dependency and marginalisation, and expose them to severe gender-based discrimination and persecution.”

The petition further prayed that the SHC declare the PMDC’s orders and DUHS’s notices “unconstitutional, ultra vires, arbitrary, without lawful authority and of no legal effect against the petitioners”.

The petitioners urged the court to direct the respondents to allow them to continue their MBBS studies, attend clinical rotations, reside in college hostels and appear in examinations without hindrance or harassment.

They also prayed the court to “restrain the respondents from taking any action against the petitioners that may directly or indirectly impede the completion of their MBBS degrees in Pakistan and their stay at hostel premises”.