ISLAMABAD, Jan 15: The Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench has upheld the decision of a lower court that dismissed a petition against allotment of land by the Capital Development Authority for construction of a church in Sector G-8/2.

The petitioner, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, had moved the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court seeking direction against allotment of a plot for construction of a church on the grounds that the land was situated in a Muslim-dominated area.

The additional district and sessions judge, Islamabad, had on December 15, 2004 dismissed the petition after a local commission appointed to ascertain the factual position reported that 51 Christian families were living in the area, though a mosque also existed there about 1,000 yards away from the plot.

In his order, Justice Shabbir Raza Rizvi observed that under Article 20 of the Constitution, every citizen had the right to profess, practise or propagate his religion.

"The article further provides that every religious denomination and every sect has the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions," the judge stated, adding "Since church is a religious institution, therefore, its construction is the right of the Christian citizens of Pakistan."

Islam is a religion of tolerance and learning and non-Muslims are free to profess and practise their religion, the judge further observed in his order.

Justice Rizvi also quoted the August 11, 1947 speech of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in the Constituent Assembly in which he had said that every citizen would be free in Pakistan to believe and to profess whatever religion he belonged to.