The Supreme Court is set to hear the pleas in the case regarding the Places of Worship Act. The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) moved the Supreme Court to oppose a batch of petitions challenging the validity of certain provisions of the act. The Places of Worship Act calls for retaining of all the religious structures as they were in 1947 and prohibits the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship.
What is the 1991 Places of Worship Act?
The title of the act describes it as “An Act to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto,” as per an official document from
legestlative.gov.in.
The act calls for retaining of all religious structures and places of worship as they were on August 15, 1947.
Section 3 of the Act bars the conversion, in full or part, of a place of worship of any religion into a place of worship of a different religious denomination or even to another segment of the same religion.
Section 4(1) of the act declares that the religious character of a place of worship “shall continue to be the same as it existed” on August 15, 1947. It also mentions that any suit or legal proceeding with respect to the conversion of the religious place of worship pending before any court till August 15, 1947, shall abate and no fresh suit or legal proceedings shall be instituted after this date.
As per the document, Section 5 of the act stipulates that it shall not apply to the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, and to any suit, appeal or proceeding relating to it.
Who introduced the Places of Worship Act 1991 and why was it enacted?
The Act was introduced by the Congress government under the leadership of Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao at a time when the Ram temple movement was at its peak. As per an Indian Express report, the Babri Masjid was still standing at the time, but due to LK Advani’s rath yatra, his arrest and the firing on kar sevaks in Uttar Pradesh, communal tensions were raging.
Introducing the Bill in Parliament, then Home Minister SB Chavan asserted it was necessary to adopt these measures in view of the religious controversies about conversion of places of worship which tends to affect the communal atmosphere. He mentioned that the adoption of this Bill will effectively prevent any new controversies from arising, as per an official document.
The latest development
A bench headed by Chief Justice UU Lalit is set to hear the Muslim side on the issue regarding a batch of petitions questioning the validity of certain provisions of the 1991 law, today, on October 11. The Muslim body AIMPLB in its application has contended that the Act does not violate any cultural rights of any section of the people and is based on the fundamental features of the Constitution, which are unamendable. Thus, any attempt to repeal the said Act or to amend the same will be an annihilation of the basic aims and objects or principles on which the said Act is based, and it would be "unconstitutional and thus void", TOI reported.
Earlier, a batch of petitions was filed challenging the validity of the Act. The petitions contended that it has illegally fixed a retrospective cut-off date (August 15, 1947), which bars Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs from approaching courts to ‘re-claim’ their places of worship which were ‘invaded’ and ‘encroached’ by ‘barbaric invaders’, reported The Hindu.
The main objective of these petitions is to set right a ‘historical wrong’.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
