Daily Times

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a timeframe for the construction of Karak Temple in a case related to the rights of minorities.

The court also ordered the Punjab government to provide security for the Holi festival at Pralab Mandir Multan.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed heard the suo motu notice on minority rights and Karak Mandir incident in the Supreme Court.

During the hearing the chief justice inquired that 119 people were arrested in Karak incident but so far no amount of damage has been recovered from any of them. Recover from the people who damaged the Karak Temple. Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan said that once the loss is received, no one will even think of doing it again.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa additional advocate general mentioned that the provincial government has allocated Rs 34.8 million for the construction of the temple. Hindu Council Chairman Ramesh Kumar said that the construction of the temple has not started yet. On this, the chief justice remarked that construction of the temple should start immediately.

During the hearing, the additional attorney general also raised the issue of seizure of 14 properties on abandoned waqf properties, on which the chief justice remarked that all the properties of abandoned properties have been leased out, some will be given to someone permanently.

During the hearing, the head of the Minority Commission, Shoaib Suddle, complained about abandoned property while Ramesh Kumar complained about the non-cooperation of the administration in organizing the Holi festival at the Pralab Temple in Multan. The court summoned the chairman of the derelict Waqf property at the next hearing and directed the chief secretary and IG Punjab to provide security to the Pralab Mandir. The Chief Justice said that Holi would be celebrated on March 28. The case will be heard again next week.