Moalims

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday suspended a Health Department notification and restrained medical colleges across the province from charging a revised fee from overseas students. Justice Shahid Waheed heard a petition by Aqsa Komal, a third-year student at Nishtar Medical College, Multan. The petitioner submitted through her counsel that 76 seats had been reserved for overseas students at 14 public medical colleges in the province. She said an overseas medical student was required to pay $87,000 annually under the self-finance scheme. The petitioner stated that medical colleges had doubled the fee following a Health Department notification issued recently. She said students were being threatened with cancellation of their admission for failing to pay the revised amount. She said the hike was illegal. Komal requested the court to set aside the notification for being illegal and restrain the colleges from demanding the revised fee from students. The judge suspended the notification and sought a reply from the Health Department in two weeks. The judge also restrained the colleges from acting against students over non-payment of new dues.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2016