LHC takes up plea over Christian graveyard

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday issued notices to respondents and sought their replies on a petition seeking permission for the burial of members of the Christian community at a designated graveyard in Faisalabad, where burials were allegedly halted following a court stay order.

Justice Abid Hussain Chattha heard the miscellaneous application filed by Pannu Masih.

According to the application, an 8-kanal and 18-marla piece of land located in Chak 212-GB, Samundri, Faisalabad, was temporarily allocated by the Deputy Commissioner Faisalabad for use as a Christian graveyard through an order issued on May 11, 2016. The petitioner stated that the land was formally mutated in favour of the Christian graveyard on January 6, 2026.

The application claimed that a man, Khalid Munir, obtained a stay order from the Lahore High Court on June 4, 2026, against the deputy commissioner's allotment order, allegedly without disclosing that the land had already been transferred for graveyard purposes.

The petitioner alleged that the stay order was being used to prevent the burial of deceased members of the Christian community, causing hardship and irreparable loss to the affected families.

The applicant requested the court to allow burials on the shamlat land designated for the Christian graveyard.