Supreme Court adjourns hearing on Places of Worship Act case until March

The Supreme Court on Monday deferred the hearing of multiple petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Places of Worship Special Provisions Act 1991 The Act which was enacted to preserve the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15 1947 has been the subject of extensive legal debateA bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar announced that the matter required a threejudge bench As the current bench had only two judges the hearing was postponed to a later date likely in MarchldquoWe will not take up the Places of Worship Act matter today It is a threejudge bench matter Too many petitions have been filed List it sometime in March There should be a limit to the number of intervention applications being filedrdquo Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna remarked as per ANIThe case has seen intervention applications from multiple political and religious organisations opposing the petitions against the Act Among those filing applications are the Indian National Congress the Communist Party of India MarxistndashLeninist the All India MajliseIttehadulMuslimeen AIMIM led by Asaduddin Owaisi Jamiat UlamaIHind the All India Muslim Personal Law Board the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masjid which oversees the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah mosque committee of MathuraAccording to ANI these groups argue that allowing the petitions to proceed would open the floodgates to litigation over numerous mosques across the country They have urged the apex court to dismiss the pleas challenging the validity of the ActThe Supreme Court is currently handling several petitions challenging Sections 2 3 and 4 of the Places of Worship Act 1991 The petitioners argue that these provisions violate the fundamental principles of secularism and the rule of law which form the core of the Constitutionrsquos basic structure They also claim that the Act infringes on fundamental rights including the right to equality and religious freedomThe 1991 Act strictly prohibits any alteration of the religious character of a place of worship and imposes severe penalties for violations It also blocks the initiation of any new legal proceedings concerning places of worship that existed before 1947 except for the Ram JanmabhoomiBabri Masjid case which was excluded from the lawrsquos purviewOn December 12 the Supreme Court directed all courts across the country to refrain from issuing any interim or final orders including surveys in pending cases regarding religious structures It further ordered that no fresh suits related to such disputes should be registered while the apex court is deliberating on the constitutional challenge to the Places of Worship ActSeveral individuals including Maharaja Kumari Krishna Priya a member of the Kashi Royal Family BJP leader Subramanian Swamy former MP Chintamani Malviya retired army officer Anil Kabotra advocates Chandra Shekhar and Ashwini Upadhyay and religious leaders such as Swami Jeetendranand Saraswati and Devkinandan Thakur Ji have filed petitions opposing the ActThese petitioners contend that the law unjustly deprives Hindus Jains Buddhists and Sikhs of their right to reclaim their places of worship and pilgrimage sites that were allegedly destroyed by invaders The pleas further argue that while the Act exempts the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute it does not extend the same exception to the birthplace of Lord Krishna despite both deities being revered incarnations of Lord VishnuThe petitioners maintain that the Act effectively strips them of their right to seek judicial recourse thereby infringing upon their fundamental right to access the courtsAs per ANI reports the Supreme Court is expected to take up the case for hearing in March where a threejudge bench will decide the next course of action regarding these legal challengesWith inputs from ANI