While disposing of Pakistan Hindu Council's petition on Thursday, the Supreme Court (SC) said that in the presence of Article 20 of the Constitution there was no need for special legislation to protect minorities' rights. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, further observed that there was no concept of forced religious conversion in Islam.
During the hearing, Akram Sheikh, the counsel for Hindu Council, stated that incidents of forced religious conversion were being witnessed in rural areas. Therefore, he added, the court should ask the parliament to introduce a legislation for prevention of such incidents because it was a matter of fundamental rights. He further stated that there should be a law for awarding punishment to those who forcibly convert religion of others. Upon this, Justice Jawad S Khawaja said that Article 20 ensured the religious freedom and there was need to enforce that Article.
Meanwhile, hearing another case regarding the illegal Jirga System, the court directed the federation, KPK and Balochistan government to furnish their replies within two weeks. Punjab and Sindh governments have already submitted their replies in response to petition, filed by National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Chairperson Anis Haroon against vani and swara customs practices through jirgas and punchayats to settle disputes.