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FCC Limits High Courts’ ‘Compassion,’ Overturns Order for Special MBBS Exam

The ruling confines High Courts to Article 199 as written, leaving any equitable discretion to Article 187 for the Supreme Court and FCC.

Overview

  • A two-judge FCC bench led by Justice Aamir Farooq with Justice Rozi Khan Barrech set aside the Sindh High Court’s mandamus to Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University.
  • The 18-page judgment says judicial decisions must rest on law rather than morality, compassion, personal beliefs or political considerations.
  • The court clarified that any power to render equitable or compassionate relief exists only under Article 187 for the Supreme Court and FCC, not under High Courts’ Article 199 jurisdiction.
  • High Court interference in university administration is permissible only in exceptional, legally grounded circumstances such as violations of natural justice or constitutional or statutory mandates.
  • The case arose from an SHC order allowing a second-year MBBS student, who missed exams after a kidney transplant, to sit a special or super supplementary paper that no rule authorizes.