' The facts as disclosed by the petitioner in the instant Constitution petition are that the petitioner obtained a high first division in Matric and Intermediate Examinations; that she was interested in pursuing career in the medical profession and for the said reasons, she had opted for Pre-Medical Group from Class 9th; that the petitioner had all along been repeatedly advised that the sole detriment of her chances of succeeding in achieving admission in any Medical College was whether or not she had excelled in studies and obtained outstanding marks in her High School and Intermediate Examinations; that the petitioner was taken by surprise when came to know through an advertisement that in order to be considered for admission in any Medical College of Punjab, she would have to appear in an Entry test to be held on 15-11-1998 at Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi; that no specific instructions were mentioned in the advertisement which appeared in the Press regarding the aforesaid entry test; that the petitioner was only instructed to obtain an admission form from the office of respondent No,3; that respondent No,3 had issued a Prospectus, at pages Nos.11 to 25 whereof the criterion for the eligibility for admission to Medical College was given; that the said criterion clearly specified that all the candidates to be considered for the said admission shall have to obtain 40% marks in the entry test;. That the advertisement as published in the Press gave no indication as to the nature of the entry to be undergone by a candidate desirous of seeking admission in a Medical College; that the entry test sought to be held by the respondents with the exception of a few private Institutions in the country was not a recognized norm in the country; that the respondents appeared to have been influenced for holding the aforesaid entry test by following the example of Agha Khan Medical College, Karachi; that the difference between the entry test proposed to be held by the respondents and the one held under the auspices of Agha Khan Medical College was that wide publicity is given to the entry test organized by Agha Khan Medical College, Karachi about the nature and scope of the entry test which has not been done in the proposed entry test to be held under the arrangements of the respondents; that the entry test to be held by the respondents is violate of the regulations issued by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council; that the respondents had justified the holding of the entry test on the ground that the F.Sc. Examinations were not transparent enough and were exposed to be interfered with through unethical practices i,e, the bribe etc; that the ages old system of testing the eligibility of the candidates by relying on the results achieved by them in their academic examination could not be replaced by the entry test of the nature proposed to be held in the manner advertised in the Press; that the entry test introduced by the respondents without laying down a transparent, open and acceptable criteria, all of a sudden without proper introduction and notice, was patently violate of equal protection and due process clauses of the Constitution and as such the same was erroneous untenable, contrary to the law and circumstances and was liable to be interfered with by this Court in the exercise of its Constitutional jurisdiction.
2. Dr. Muhammad Aslam Khaki and Mr. Abdul Rehman Siddiqui, Advocates appearing in support of the Constitution petition proceeding on the aforesaid allegations have raised the following contentions:--
(a) That the respondents had violated the due process of law which was the fundamental requirement of Article 4 of the Constitution;
(b) that the respondents handling of the entry test by not giving the same adequate publicity and by keeping the candidate absolutely unaware as to the nature of questions to be put to them in the entry test rendered the said test as wholly non-transparent;
(c) that the petitioner who had been trained for 12 long years of her educational career in a subjective form of examination could not be made to appear all of a sudden in an objective test.
There could not be greater injustice done to the petitioner than to subject her and expose her to an examination of the type proposed to be held through the entry test;
(d) that the entry test sought to bring in vogue and altogether noval system for determining the eligibility of. a candidate desirous of seeking admission in a Medical College as opposed to be age old known system with which all the students were conversant in accordance with which they were all along trained;
(e) that the equal protection clause in the Constitution was grossly violated;
(f) that the change of the old system of testing the eligibility of a candidate to the new system was contrary to the legitimate expectations of a candidate;
(g) that the system of entry test sought to be introduced by exposing the candidates to hitherto unknown system amounted to taking them by surprise besides violating their dignity as enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution;
(h) that the petitioner had inalienable right to be considered for admission but by introducing the entry test, the said right was violated;
(i) and finally the proposed entry test offends against the equality clause enshrined in Article 25 of the Constitution.
3. Malik Muhammad Kabir and Raja Saeed Akram Khan learned Assistant Advocates-General Punjab have vehemently opposed the Constitution petition and have prayed for its dismissal. The learned Law Officers have maintained that wide publicity was given to the entry test held by the respondents for deciding the admissions to the Medical Colleges of the Province and that the candidates not only knew full well about the entry test having known about the same through the Press but also appeared in the same with their eyes open and mind quite clear about it. The test was held under the supervision of an independent Agency, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi which had made foolproof arrangements for making the test and the result to be compiled thereunder transparent and that the said Agency had made foolproof arrangements for the entry test at three different places i,e, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi. There was no room whatever for doubting the integrity or honesty of the said Agency or of finding fault with the arrangements made by it for the entry test. The test and the arrangements made for the entry test were telecast live on Television. Both the students appearing in the test and their parents were interviewed on Television and they expressed their extreme pleasure and satisfaction on the arrangements made by the respondents for the entry test. Chief Executive of the Province i,e, the Chief Minister himself went round the venue of the entry test at Lahore and supervised the arrangements made for the same at the site. All and all, not a single voice was raised during or after the entry test against the same.
4. I have considered and evaluated the respective submissions of the learned counsel for the parties and have perused the record placed before me.. The various contentions raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner appear more to be bookish rather than having anything to do with reality. The apprehensions expressed are not only imaginary but are wholly unfounded. The entry test was given wide publicity all over the Province and those who appeared in the same knew full-well about the entry test and its requirements. Nobody was taken by surprise. The students appearing in the test expressed their extreme satisfaction about the arrangements made and were pleased that equal opportunity was afforded to all of them to appear in the test and try their luck. At all the three centers of the tests i,e, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi, the candidates observed complete discipline while undergoing the test. Not a single voice was raised against the same. The arrangements made were most transparent, computerized ruling out any possibility of any mistake occurring therein. In any event, those responsible for holding the test welcomed those who had to make any inquiry about the same. The result of the test was also declared with the help of the Computer. It is admitted on all hands that the medical students and their parents in order to create justification for their children's admission in medical colleges resort to unethical practices and manage secure very high marks in the examination. Such persons who secured the marks in a fashion such as this succeed in getting admission in the Medical College at the expense of those who do not resort to any corrupt practices. The Chief Executive of the Province i,e, the Chief Minister cognizant of the aforesaid ills prevalent in the society took a conscious and deliberate decision to do away with such dishonest and corrupt practices. It was to achieve this end that an entry test of the type as has been held by the respondents was thought to be the solution of all the problems where all and sundry could appear and try their luck in open competition. Instead of appreciating this most gallant and brilliant effort on the I part of the respondents to make an entry test foolproof and transparent, a petition as frivolous and vexatious as the present one has been filed. The petitioner before me has approached this Court in its Constitutional jurisdiction which is an equitable jurisdiction as well and the conduct of the petitioner is not only relevant but is very material. The petitioner in spite of all the tall claims of her learned counsel appearing for her, appeared in the entry test herself without any reservations and participated therein but failed to qualify the test. Having done so, I am afraid, she cannot be permitted to turn around and to find fault with the entry test or to say all that has been said on her behalf. The question is that if this entry test was something wholly unauthorised, illegal, uncommon, unknown and unconscionable then why on earth did the petitioner appear in the same. One might legitimately ask a question of the petitioner as to whether she would have raised all this hue and cry against the entry test if she had qualified the same. The plain and simple answer is in the negative. Therefore, if the petitioner has appeared in the entry test and has not been able to qualify the same, she cannot be permitted to find fault with the test and to criticise the respondents for the same, the most foolproof and transparent arrangements made by them notwithstanding. The petitioner's own conduct of having participated in the entry test without any protest or objection is enough to disentitle her to claim the relief that she seeks through the instant Constitution petition. The petition viewed in the light of the foregoing is wholly meritiess, based on imaginary apprehension and wholly misconceived and is dismissed as such.