MUHAMMAD IJAZ KHAN, J. Through this single judgment, we intend to decide the instant writ petition No. 912-M of 2021 as well as the connected writ petition No. 297-M of 2022, as common questions of law and facts are involved in both these petitions.
2. It may be noted at the very outset that for the same relief one petition has been filed by the petitioner/College i.e. Lady Lamp College of Nursing & Health Sciences whereas the connected writ petition has been filed by the students of the College for the same relief and against the same set of respondents, therefore, both these petitions are being taken up for a common order/judgment.
3. Precisely, the grievance of the petitioners is that the petitioner/College was established in the year 2016 and thereafter he approached to the Pakistan Nursing Council (hereinafter referred to as "PNC") and The Khyber Medical University (hereinafter referred to as "KMU") for registration of the College in accordance with law. It is pleaded that on the basis of the inspection report available with the PNC and due to the reason that since the time is running short for the new session, PNC provisionally recommended and allowed the petitioner/College to start admission process for the two disciplines i.e. 04 Years Generic BSN Degree and 02 Years RN BSN Degree, which was finally approved by the PNC in its Twenty-Fifth Session and conveyed to the petitioner/College vide letter dated 20.08.2018. It is further pleaded that the petitioner/College was registered with the Higher Regulatory Authority on 02.09.2019 and thereafter in the year 2018 the petitioner/College also approached to the KMU for the grant of affiliation to the petitioner/College and they were kind enough to register all the students who took admission in the College in the year 2018. It is further pleaded that after the admission in the year 2018 the petitioner/College started classes as per the criteria laid down by the PNC and KMU. It is alleged that it was a year back when on 04.10. 2019 the KMU granted affiliation to the petitioner/College and thereafter the KMU arranged first semester examination for the students of the petitioner/College on 19.02.2019 and afterwards the KMU has been conducting the examination of their students till date and as such the students who were admitted in the year 2018 have already passed their 5th semester and it was stated at the bar that now days they are appearing in their 6th semester examination.
4. The petitioner as per the contents of his petition and the arguments addressed at the bar has got two-fold grievances, firstly that respondent/ KMU may be directed to arrange special exam of 7th and 8th semesters for those students who were granted admission in the year 2018 in their College and secondly the petitioner/College may be treated at part with other colleges of the province.
5. When this case was taken up for hearing on 20.10.2021 respondents were put on notice and they were directed to file their para-wise comments which they have accordingly submitted whereby they have seriously opposed the issuance of the desired writ in favour of the petitioner/College.
6. Arguments of the learned counsel for the parties were heard in considerable detail and the record perused with their able assistance.
7. The record appended with the instant petitions would glean that it was the fault of the petitioner/College who admitted students in the year 2018 when by then no affiliation was granted to it by the KMU and the petitioner/College started admitting the students in the middle of the process at the stage when the Executive Committee of the PNC has just recommended the College for its affiliation. It is relevant to mention here that the petitioner/College has not waited till to clear its legal status of acquiring the affiliation and other legal formalities but soon after the recommendation of the PNC the petitioner/College started admitting the students.
8. It may be noted that as per the Regulation of PNC made in exercise of powers conferred on it under section 22 (1) (2) of Pakistan Nursing Council Act, 1973 there are 10 steps in the process of recognition of a Nursing Institution, which are reproduced blow;- Stake-1; Receipt of applications of the institution through the University/DAI to the PNC.
Stake-2; Issue of letter of inspection by PNC.
Stage-3; Inspection by PNC Stake-4; Applicant institution to send its observations on the PNC inspection report.
Stake-5; Recommendation of Pakistan Nursing Council Executive Committee for the Council.
Stage-6; Formulation of recommendations by the Council for notification in the schedules.
Stage-7; Letter of no objection by the Council to the University for Affiliation.
Stage-8; Inclusion in the Third Schedule by the Federal Government on the recommendations received from the Council and the University.
Stage-9; Advertisement for admission and admission of students by the Institution.
Stage-10; Registration of Students by PNC.
The aforesaid pre-requisite various stages before admitting and in-taking the students by the Institution would show that it is entirely the fault of the petitioner/College who has granted admission to the students before having in hand a valid affiliation. The aforesaid stipulated stages would also show that the petitioner/College has started admitting the students after stage-5 when by then only the Executive Committee of the PNC has recommended their affiliation and as such the petitioner/College without waiting for stages, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 have started admitting students and thus they have shown an unnecessary haste, for which nobody else but the petitioner/College itself is responsible.
9. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances now this Court will proceed to consider the pray of the petitioner/College, though from the contents of the writ petition the pray of the petitioner is not properly spelling-out, however, during the course of arguments at the bar he stated that his pray is that respondent/University may be directed to arrange special examination of semester 7th and semester 8th for those students who were admitted by the petitioner/College in the year 2018.
It may be noted that there is no such provision in The Khyber Medical University Regulations, 2017 (Semester System) for arranging special examination and on the other hand such pray of the petitioner is apparently misconceived as how those students who are appearing these days in the 6th semester examination would be allowed to appear in the 7th and 8th semesters when by now they have not at all studied the said course and over and above for appearing in the 7th and 8th semesters it is the conditional precedent that the students must have been passed all the previous semesters. It is also the requirement of law that the student must have a specific courses credit hours which is obviously not possible for those students who are yet to study semester 7 and semester 8, therefore, from whatever angle it is seen the pray of the petitioner/College is nothing else but its wishful thinking which could not be materialized as per the Rules and The Khyber Medical University.
10. The learned counsel for the petitioner was confronted time and again that what of his fundamental or legal rights have been violated for which he could maintained the instant writ petition. It is relevant to mention here that in a broader sense rights could be categorized in three kinds i.e. Fundamental rights are those rights which are conferred upon a citizen by The Constitution of Pakistan, Legal rights are those rights which are conferred upon a person by any law or statute other than The Constitution of Pakistan and Vested rights are those rights which are accrued to a person due to an act or omission, action or inaction of another person. In a writ jurisdiction what the writ petitioner is required is to first establish that he has suffered a "legal grievance" or he has wrongly been deprived or he has wrongly been refused something for which he was otherwise legally entitled to, and it is only after the establishment of such a right, followed by its violation or refusal by a public functionaries, and it would be thereafter that he/they may be held as entitled for the issuance of the desired writ. In the case of "Fazl-e-Haq, Accountant- General, West Pakistan vs. The State" reported as PLD 1960 Supreme Court (Pak.) 295, the Hon'ble Apex Court has held that extraordinary jurisdiction of High Court could only be invoked by a person whose legal right has been denied. This view was also followed in the case of "Mian Fazal Din vs. Lahore Improvement Trust, Lahore and another" reported as PLD 1969 Supreme Court 223, in which it was held that petitioner has to show that he had a personal interest in performance of the legal duty which if not performed or performed in a manner not permitted by law would result in the loss of some personal benefit or advantage.
11. It is settled law that no writ can be issued on the compassionate ground or on the ground of hardship. In the case of "Director General National Savings, Islamabad v/s Balqees Begum and others" reported as PLD 2013 Supreme Court 174, the Hon'ble Apex Court has held that in any case, the rules of equity cannot be taken into account to frustrate and defeat the law. Like equity, the concepts of compassion and hardship shall also be considered by the Courts for providing relief to an aggrieved party in terms of Article 199 of the Constitution, only when there is room in the relevant law to do so, but undoubtedly not by the breach of law and moreso by stultifying the right accrued to the opposite side or/and to enforce a right which the aggrieved party under the law has lost.
12. For the afore-stated reasons, both these connected writ petitions are found being bereft of any merits and the same are accordingly dismissed. revisions by the competent authorities. Therefore, it is advisable to consult the official sources or legal professionals for the most up-to-date and accurate information.