LHC restrains PMC from finalising bids

LAHORE: The Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) was recently ordered by the Lahore High Court (LHC) to halt bidding on a tender for computer-based testing services to conduct the Medical and Dental Colleges Admissions Test (MDCAT).

Justice Jawad Hassan issued the stay order in response to a case brought by M/s Superior Connections Pvt Ltd disputing the PMC's tender notice, which was featured in national and international publications.
The petitioner's lawyer requested permission from the court to implead M/s SOAR Testing Pvt Ltd, which had acquired the earlier bid for the tests, as a respondent in the case at the start of the hearing.

The petitioner/company had been offering services in the domains of education, communication, medicine, and information and technology and had been aggrieved by the PMC's conduct of releasing the impugned tender document in support of the respondent according to the lawyer. He claimed that the PMC had previously bought the respondent company's services without adhering to the concept of transparency throughout the bidding process.

According to the counsel, the petitioner was the only firm that satisfied the parameters listed in the impugned assessment criteria. Several students' educational careers were at stake, and the petitioner was the only company that met the conditions listed in the impugned evaluation criteria.