The Hyderabad board has declared 43 MDCAT mark sheets tampered, after the Sindh High Court ordered the credentials of the candidates who passed the medical entry test to be checked.
The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Hyderabad found only five of the 48 transcripts sent to it to be genuine. The rest had been altered, officials said.
How the case reached the court
The case began with a petition filed by a girl student who secured 150 out of 180 marks in the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT). She challenged the record of another student, identified as Fariha, who had obtained 869 marks in the Intermediate Examination 2026 but whose purported mark sheet, dated August 19, 2026, showed 930 marks, a gap of 61 marks.
The Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) in Jamshoro had sent the mark sheets of 48 candidates to BISE Hyderabad for verification on the orders of a division bench of the Sindh High Court.
Hearing the petition, the bench, comprising Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon and Justice Mohammad Jaffer Raza, ruled that the “matter calls for verification and regulatory compliance”. It asked the authorities to “address the identified discrepancy expeditiously” and to “ensure that any decision affecting a candidate’s eligibility is supported by official record and taken after affording affected persons an opportunity of hearing”.
The director of admissions at LUMHS then wrote to the BISE controller of examinations, asking him to verify the credentials of the 48 students urgently. Officials said the board declared the transcripts of only five candidates authentic, while the mark sheets of the remaining 43 were found to have been tampered with.
MDCAT mark sheets tampered: why a few marks matter so much
MDCAT is the national entry test for medical and dental colleges, and small differences in marks can decide who gets a seat and who does not. The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council requires at least 60 per cent marks for admission to MBBS and BDS programmes, so a forged mark sheet that adds dozens of marks can push an ineligible candidate ahead of honest ones.
That is why verification cases like this one draw close attention from students and parents. A single tampered transcript does not just affect one seat. It calls the whole admission list into question and forces universities to recheck records they had already accepted.
The Hyderabad case is not the first time the board’s results have come under a cloud. Last month, a BISE Hyderabad official was suspended over result manipulation, in a separate case that raised similar questions about how marks were handled. The latest findings will add to the pressure on the board to explain how so many altered documents reached the admission stage.
The courts have also been drawn into MDCAT disputes before. Last month, the Lahore High Court dealt with a case over the retrieval of an MDCAT paper, showing how often the test ends up in litigation. Each case adds delay and doubt for thousands of candidates who took the test fairly.
What happens next
The court’s direction is clear: the authorities must act quickly, base any decision on the official record and give the affected candidates a hearing before deciding their fate. That means the 43 candidates whose mark sheets were found tampered with must be heard before their admissions can be cancelled, and the five whose transcripts were genuine should face no penalty.
For LUMHS, the immediate task is to correct its admission list in line with the verified record. For BISE Hyderabad, the harder question is how the altered mark sheets were produced and whether anyone inside the system helped. Neither the board nor the university has yet said whether an internal inquiry will follow, and BISE Jhelum’s postponement of computer science papers this week has already put the boards under fresh scrutiny for other reasons.
For the students who passed honestly, the episode is a reminder that the test itself is only part of the contest. The other part is making sure the marks counted are real.
Frequently asked questions
How many MDCAT mark sheets were found tampered with?
BISE Hyderabad declared the mark sheets of 43 of 48 candidates tampered with. Only five transcripts were found authentic.
What started the verification?
A girl student who scored 150 out of 180 in MDCAT petitioned the Sindh High Court, pointing out that a student named Fariha had 869 marks in Intermediate but a mark sheet showing 930 marks.
What did the Sindh High Court order?
A bench of Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon and Justice Mohammad Jaffer Raza ordered LUMHS to send the mark sheets for verification and told the authorities to act quickly, rely on the official record and hear the affected candidates.
Which body carried out the verification?
The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Hyderabad, checked the 48 transcripts sent by LUMHS and found 43 of them tampered with.
What happens to the affected candidates now?
No decision on their eligibility can be taken without a hearing, under the court’s order. Admissions based on the tampered mark sheets will have to be reviewed against the verified record.
