In a landmark decision that brings relief to thousands of medical aspirants, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared on Saturday that the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) results of November 2022 were valid for two years as per the regulations in place at last year.

The judgment issued by Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb on a petition filed by one Laiba Rauf, means that the students who passed the MDCAT in November 2022 can now seek admission to medical colleges in 2024.

Rauf had challenged the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) public notice of July 14, 2023, which stated that MDCAT results from 2022 would not be valid for admissions in 2023, despite the regulations at that time clearly stating a two-year validity period.

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The court found that the PMDC’s attempt to retract the two-year validity period through a subsequent administrative decision was illegal and violated the rights of students, who had appeared for the exam under the previous regulations.

“This right cannot be withdrawn from the petitioner by a subsequent administrative decision,” the court stated. Justice Aurangzeb further directed the PMDC to bear the expenses incurred by Rauf in pursuing the case.