Hindu temple: Petitions challenging govt's decision disposed of

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday disposed of petitions challenging the government's decision to construct a Hindu temple in the federal capital, on the basis that no funds, so far, have been disbursed for the purpose, and the matter has been referred to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).

The petitioners, Chaudhry Tanveer Akhtar, Muhammad Yahya Ahmed Minhas, and Khushnood Ahmad Khan, had questioned the allotment of a plot and allocation of funds for a Hindu temple.

A single bench of IHC comprising Justice Amer Farooq on Tuesday announced the verdict, which it had reserved a day ago after hearing all the parties.

The judgment noted, "In so far as funding for the construction of Temple, Community Center and place for Cremation qua Hindu Community is concerned, the Federal Government has already referred the matter to Council of Islamic Ideology and no amount has yet been disbursed as submitted by Representative of Ministry of Religious Affairs; hence the grievance of the petitioners on the specific issue stand allayed and has become infructuous, for the time being."

"Moreover, the contention that financing of the project by the Federal Government to a small Hindu population in the area of Islamabad Capital Territory is waste of public money also does not call for any finding as the matter, at present, has been halted," it added.

The IHC bench said the representative of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the counsel for the authority submitted that in sub-sector H-9/2, a plot was allocated for graveyard of minorities, and on that basis, the allocation was made.

It added, "It seems that the allottee namely IHP (Institute of Hindu Panchayat) did not adhere to the CDA Rules and Regulations by submitting a building plan and seeking its approval and on the said basis the construction of plot was stopped. The Authority is entitled to take appropriate action in accordance with the term of the allotment (Clauses 3 and 24 of Allotment letter dated 26.12.2017) and its laws for violation of the terms of allotment, if any."

"The fact remains that no construction at present is taking place at the site, in question and is unlikely to commence till compliance is made with terms of allotment and Capital Development Authority laws. As noted above, Capital Development Authority is still to approve a building plan as and when the same is submitted and while doing so can holistically review the matter. It is an admitted position that no construction on any site can commence by any allottee/lessee unless it complies with the Rules and Regulations of Capital Development Authority," maintained the court.

The CDA counsel had informed the court that the land was allotted for establishment of Temple Community Center and Cremation to Institute of Hindu Panchayat (IHP) on 26th December 2017.

It was submitted that in the sub-sector H-9/2 Islamabad, graveyards of minorities are situated on land/plot allotted by the CDA and the referred sub-sector is designated for such purposes.

It was further contended that though the construction commenced but was stopped by the CDA as no formal approval of the building plan was obtained from the Competent Authority.

It was reiterated that the plot has not been allotted solely for a temple but the site is to include temple, community centre and a place for cremation.

Justice Aamer noted, "For what has been stated above, no occasion arises for this Court to interfere; hence, the above-mentioned petitions are disposed of accordingly. However, in future, if the petitioners have any grievance in the matter they may agitate the matter again."

Chaudhary Tanveer had contended that the plot could not have been allotted for the purposes of establishment of a temple for Hindu Community in Sector H-9/2 as there is no such allocation of land in the Master Plan of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

Petitioner Yahya's counsel Muhammad Shafiqur Rehman's contention was that permission by the Federal Government and "funding" of the construction of the mandir (temple) in the ICT is in violation of Article 2-A of 1973 Constitution.

Petitioner Khushnood argued that there were already three temples in the areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, which duly cater to the needs of the Hindu community.

It was further contended that allocation and funding by the federal government for construction of a Hindu temple especially in the times of Covid-19 pandemic amounts to "wasting" of the public money.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020