HEC equivalence does not guarantee university admission, FCC rules
The court observed while deciding a case involving a candidate who was refused admission to an MPhil programme at Punjab University.
A three-member bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah, dismissed the petition filed by Altaf Hussain.
The petition challenged a 2019 intra-court appeal judgment of the Lahore High Court.
Why Punjab University refused admission
Altaf Hussain had applied for admission to an MPhil programme at Punjab University based on an MBA degree obtained from Allama Iqbal Open University.
He had cleared the GAT-General examination as well as the university’s admission test. However, the university did not accept his application because his MBA programme did not meet its required academic structure.
According to the case, Hussain’s degree included 20 courses carrying a total of 60 credit hours.
Punjab University’s admission requirements, however, called for 25 courses with at least 75 credit hours for the relevant postgraduate programme.
The candidate argued that his degree had already been recognised by the Higher Education Commission through an equivalence certificate.
His lawyer, Sheraz Zaka, maintained that the HEC was the competent federal authority for determining equivalence.
He argued that the federal determination should prevail under Article 143 of the Constitution and that Punjab University could not question the equivalence granted by the HEC.
Court differentiates equivalence from admission eligibility
Punjab University took a different position during the proceedings.
Its lawyer, Saad Rasool, argued that an equivalence certificate and admission eligibility were two separate matters.
He said the HEC certificate only established that a qualification was academically comparable to another degree. It did not mean that a student automatically met the admission requirements of every university or programme.
According to the university’s position, institutions have the legal authority to establish specific conditions for postgraduate programmes.
These conditions can include the number of courses completed, minimum credit hours and other academic requirements connected with a particular programme.
The university therefore argued that its admission rules could continue to apply even after the HEC had issued an equivalence certificate.
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Decision of Federal Constitutional Court
The judgment, written by Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah, supported the distinction between degree equivalence and admission eligibility.
The court noted that HEC equivalence certificates themselves make it clear that the final decision on admission rests with the university concerned.
The court held that an equivalence certificate confirms general academic comparability. It does not remove the authority of an educational institution to apply its own reasonable admission requirements.
The FCC also found that a university can enforce uniform and non-discriminatory credit-hour requirements for specialised postgraduate programmes.
In the present case, the court found no conflict between federal and provincial laws.
It rejected the argument that HEC’s authority over equivalence prevented Punjab University from applying its own academic standards.
