The Sindh High Court has rejected a petition seeking inclusion of the Holy Quran in the educational programme of study, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The court on Friday announced its reserved verdict on the petition which sought inclusion of the Holy Quran and its translation as a subject in the syllabus being taught to the students from primary to college level. 

The court judgement says that the constitution has created a balance among the roles of three pillars of power i.e. judiciary, legislature and administration. 

The court cannot order to effect a change in the syllabus if fundamental rights are not violated. 

The verdict says that faith is a personal matter of an individual and the court can’t interfere in it. 

It further states that the Constitution of Pakistan gives guarantee to both the positive and negative rights. The negative rights bind a state that it should not interfere in the personal matters of citizens. Citizens can utilize their rights as per their wishes, the judgement adds. 

Article 20 of the Constitution provides religious freedom to citizens and makes it mandatory upon the state that it will not interfere in their religious matters, the court observes.

Earlier, Advocate Imtiaz Ali argued that the Holy Quran education should be made compulsory in the Sindh province.

Reporter Bilal Ahmad