PHC stops structural changes to non-functional temple in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday stopped further structural changes allegedly being made to a non-functional temple in the provincial metropolis.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Muhammad Ayub Khan put on notice the provincial government and administrator of Auqaf Department to submit a reply explaining their position on the issue.

Two citizens including Muhibur Rehman and Waqif Saleem had filed a petition against the changes allegedly being made to a non-functional temple in Peshawar city. They sought orders for placing the old structure under the administrative control of the Archeology Department.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Mauzzam Butt submitted before the bench that a few months ago the issue of the alleged changes being made to the said temple was reported in newspapers following which the KP government sealed the structure. He claimed that some elements in connivance with the Evacuee Trust Property Board had resumed work at the temple.

The lawyer pointed out that the Evacuee Trust Property Board was a federal entity, but Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also had its own Antiquity Act 2016. He added that the ancient structure of the temple was more than around one and a half century old and its structure still appeared fresh and firm.

The petitioners’ prayed the court to declare that the act of and proceedings taken within the court’s  territorial jurisdiction by the Evacuee Trust Property Board ’s management performing the affairs of the federation as well as of the province allowing changes to the said structure of the temple had been taken in violation of the Antiquity Act 2016.

They said the respondents might be required to refrain from changing the nature and remains of the temple property.   However, one Qadir Khan also submitted an application in the court through his lawyer Muhammad Farooq Malik. He requested the court to make him a party to the case as he is the owner of the property and the officials concerned had stopped work on it.

The applicant said that originally the house in question was the property of the Evacuee Trust Board. It noted that it was allotted to Mst Hashmat Bibi and her husband in 1960 by the Evacuee Trust Committee and later transferred to the applicant. Since then, it said, the applicant was residing there and his sons and daughters had transferred their share to him through agreement deeds on April 20, 2000.

It said that the applicant was regularly paying monthly rent to the Evacuee Trust Property Board. It added that the applicant received a letter on February 2, 2016 from Auqaf Department asking him to vacate the house as the property was too old and unfit for living. The applicant submitted that on his request the administrator of Auqaf gave him permission for undertaking new construction work with certain terms and conditions. It noted that the applicant’s property is neither the temple’s property nor any damage whatsoever had been caused to its structure.