3-judge Bench to take up pleas against Places of Worship Act

The Supreme Court has constituted a Special Bench to hear a batch of PILs challenging the validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits filing a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.

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Act arbitrary, claim petitioners

• There are six pleas against certain provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991
• Hindu groups have sought to reclaim several mosques, claiming these were built after razing temples
• The Muslim side has sought dismissal of all pleas saying there are attempts to disrupt communal harmony

The Special Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice KV Viswanathan, will hear the matter on December 12.

The Act prohibits the conversion of any place of worship, except Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, and freezes the religious character of a place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.

There are six petitions, including those filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, against certain provisions of the law. Some of the petitions have been pending since 2020.

The petitioners alleged the 1991 law created an “arbitrary and irrational retrospective cut-off date” of August 15, 1947, for maintaining the character of the places of worship or pilgrimage against encroachments done by “fundamentalist and barbaric invaders and lawbreakers”.

The top court had on January 9, 2023, sought responses of the Centre on pending pleas challenging certain provisions of the 1991 Act, which took away the right of judicial remedy to reclaim a place of worship of any person or a religious group.

The hearing assumes significance in view of the fact that there are several mosques and dargahs which Hindu groups have sought to reclaim on the ground that they were built on pre-existing temples.

In an intervention application filed in the top court, the managing committee of Anjuman Intezamia Masajid, Varanasi, has sought the dismissal of all petitions against the Act on the ground that these are based on “rhetorical and communal claims” that could disrupt communal harmony and the rule of law.

The committee listed disputes concerning Shahi Idgah Masjid, Mathura; Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Qutub Minar, Delhi; Kamal Maula Mosque, Bhojshala Complex in Madhya Pradesh; Bija Mandal Mosque, Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh; Teele Wali Masjid, Lucknow; Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Rajasthan; Jama Masjid and dargah of Sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chishti, Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh; Baba Budangiri Dargah, Hosakoti, Karnataka; Badruddin Shah Dargah, Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh; Atala Masjid, Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh; Pirana Dargah, Gujarat; Jama Masjid, Bhopal; Hazrat Shah Ali Dargah, Telangana; and Ladle Mashak Dargah, Karnataka.

The committee said historical wrongs or perceived injustices of the past should not undermine the principles of secularism and non-retrogression upheld by the Act. “That without lending much credence to the rhetorical claims made in the petition, the purported grievance of the petitioner as regards ancient rulers of the past cannot be addressed by this court nor is a valid ground for challenging the constitutional validity of the 1991 Act,” the plea stated.

Cautioning against potential “drastic consequences” of overturning the law, the committee cited the recent incident at Sambhal where a survey order triggered widespread protests and resulted in six fatalities. It warned that repealing the Act could lead to a surge in disputes over religious sites across the country, prompting tensions in “every nook and corner” while threatening communal harmony.

The committee submitted that in the past few years, a number of claims had been made with regard to 14 mosques and dargahs claiming them to be ancient temples with “mischievous intent”.