Not the function of court to dictate content of curriculum: SHC

The Sindh High Court has dismissed a petition seeking to make the teaching of the Holy Quran mandatory in all schools and colleges, ruling that it was not the function of the court to dictate the content of the curriculum.

The petition called for the amendment of the curriculum of primary, secondary and higher secondary/college education so as to make the teaching of the Holy Quran in Arabic along with its translation in Urdu mandatory in all schools and colleges.

Earlier the court had reserved its decision on the plea. During the hearing on Dec 13, a two-member bench — comprising SHC Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh and Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed — had rejected the plea.

A three-page judgement on the plea was later issued on Friday.

In the verdict, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the SHC said: “Be that as it may, it bears equal consideration that our Constitution is founded on the theory of trichotomy of power between the three limbs/organs of the State, namely, the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary.

“And it is not the function of this Court to dictate the content of the curriculum to be followed in the province under the given circumstances, in the absence of any violation of law or fundamental rights.”

It stated that “in our view, matters of the faith are personal and are even otherwise best left to the individual”.

The verdict gave the reference to a Supreme Court judgement in a 2014 case in which the latter had observed that the freedom to profess religion and to manage religious institutions placed a duty on the State to not interfere with the religious beliefs and ideologies of individuals.

“As such, the petition is found to be misconceived, hence while granting the application for urgency we accordingly dismiss the same in line along with the other pending miscellaneous application,” the SHC order added.