{
  "id": 7323746,
  "title": "SHC suspends PMDC's return orders for Afghan medical students",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/shc-suspends-pmdcs-return-orders-for-afghan-medical-students-7323746",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-14T12:59:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn - Pakistan",
    "slug": "dawn-pakistan",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2029882/shc-suspends-pmdcs-return-orders-for-afghan-medical-students"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Karachi witnessed a significant legal development on Monday as the Sindh High Court (SHC) suspended the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) orders requiring Afghan medical students to return to Afghanistan. The suspension took place pending a further hearing on September 29. The case was brought forth by three Afghan students who contested the PMDC’s directive as unjustified and without jurisdiction. The PMDC had issued a notice on September 1, mandating Afghan medical and dental students enrolled in Pakistani institutions to return to their home country. Additionally, the PMDC barred medical and dental colleges from admitting or placing Afghan students for the ongoing academic session. Respondents in the case included the state, Ministry of Interior, PMDC, Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Sindh Police Inspector General, and the SHO of Eidgah police station in Karachi. The court subsequently issued notices to the additional attorney general and the advocate general of Sindh, requesting a response by September 29. In the interim, the court suspended the PMDC’s notices, forbidding any coercive actions against the petitioners. The three students, studying at DUHS under the Allama Mohammad Iqbal Scholarship Programme, are set to graduate in April 2027. Their petition argued that the impugned actions contravened several constitutional provisions, including Articles 4, 9, 10-A, 14, and 25. These articles safeguard equal treatment for individuals in Pakistan, life, liberty, and dignity, a fair trial, and prohibit discrimination. The petition further contended that the female students would be subjected to gender-based persecution and a complete ban on education for women in Afghanistan. The petitioners argued that the PMDC’s repatriation orders were factually incorrect and absurd, as it would result in the destruction of the students’ educational and professional futures, subjecting them to dependency, marginalization, and severe gender-based discrimination. They sought the court’s declaration of the PMDC’s orders and DUHS’s notices as unconstitutional, invalid and lacking legal standing. The petitioners also asked the court to prevent the respondents from taking any action that could hinder the completion of their MBBS degrees in Pakistan or their stay in college hostels.",
  "summary": "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…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Dawn",
        "title": "SHC suspends PMDC's return orders for Afghan medical students",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/shc-suspends-pmdcs-return-orders-for-afghan-medical-students",
        "published": "2026-09-14T12:59:28.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}