ISLAMABAD: The Sup­reme Court on Monday suspended the Pe­shawar High Court’s verdict regarding inclusion of a separate column for the Sikh community in census forms.

The apex court observed that the census data collection phase was about to complete in 63 districts and it was impossible to make changes at this stage.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, had taken up an appeal challenging the PHC’s decision of including a separate column for the Sikh community.

During the course of proceedings, Chief Census Com­missioner Asif Bajwa informed the court that column was included neither in the past nor in the recent census form.

The apex court also set aside the verdicts of the Sindh and Peshawar high courts regarding the inclusion of a minorities’ column in the census forms.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2017