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Congress moves SC to oppose petitions against Places of Worship Act, 1991

The Act prohibits conversion of any place of worship, except the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, and freezes the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947
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Contending that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, was necessary to protect the secular nature of Indian society, the Congress on Thursday moved the Supreme Court to oppose the petitions challenging certain provisions of the law.

Enacted by Parliament during the PV Narasimha Rao government, the 1991 Act prohibits conversion of any place of worship, except the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, and freezes the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.

Delhi BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has challenged the constitutional validity of the Act.

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Congress has joined other opposition political parties, including Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat and RJD MP Manoj Jha, in approaching the top court seeking implementation of the Act.

Emphasising the constitutional and societal significance of the Act, Congress expressed apprehensions that any alterations to it could jeopardise India’s communal harmony and secular fabric, threatening the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.

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There are several mosques and dargahs which Hindu groups have sought to reclaim on the grounds that they were built on pre-existing temples.

In an important order, the Supreme Court had on December 12 last year restrained trial courts across India from registering fresh suits and ordering surveys or passing any effective and final orders with regard to religious character of existing religious structures in already pending suits.

"As the matter is sub-judice before this court, we deem it fit to direct that no fresh suits shall be registered or proceedings be ordered. In the pending suits, courts would not pass any effective order or final orders,” a three-judge Special Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna had said.

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

On January 10, the top court had restrained the Hindus from performing puja at a well located near the disputed Shahi Jama Masjid, Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh.

The petitioners against the 1991 Act alleged that it 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-barbaric invaders and law-breakers”.

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.

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