Supreme Court to Review Challenges to Places of Worship Act

A special three-judge bench will address petitions questioning the constitutionality of the 1991 law designed to preserve the religious status of worship sites as of 1947.

• The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 prohibits altering the religious character of worship sites as they stood on August 15, 1947, with an exemption for the Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.
• The Supreme Court has formed a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna to hear five petitions challenging the Act on December 12, 2024.
• Petitioners argue that the Act violates constitutional rights by preventing religious communities from reclaiming sites allegedly altered during historical invasions and by exempting Ayodhya while excluding other sites like Kashi and Mathura.
• The Union government, a party to the case, has not yet clarified its stance on the Act despite being granted extensions to file its response, most recently until October 31, 2023.
• Muslim groups and legal advocates supporting the Act caution that striking it down could undermine India's secular framework and destabilize communal harmony, referencing the 2019 Ayodhya judgment as a critical precedent.

4 Articles

Hindustan Times Hindustan Times Hindustan Times Free Press Journal