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A special bench of the Supreme Court of India, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, will begin hearing a case on December 12 regarding the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
What is Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991?
- It is described 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.
- The Act declares that the religious character of a place of worship shall continue to be the same as it was on August 15, 1947.
- It says that no person shall convert any place of worship of any religious denomination into one of a different denomination or section.
- Exemption:
- The disputed site at Ayodhya was exempted from the Act. Due to this exemption, the trial in the Ayodhya case proceeded even after the enforcement of this law.
Article Explanation
Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 locks in the status of religious sites as they were on Independence Day, August 15, 1947, preventing any legal attempts to change that status. This means people can’t file lawsuits to alter the religious identity of a place, like turning a mosque into a temple.
The law does have some exceptions. It doesn’t apply to the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case, which was resolved in favor of building a Ram temple, or to sites protected under the Ancient Monuments Act, 1958. It also doesn’t affect disputes that were settled before the law came into effect or cases that were already concluded.
The case is significant because some Hindu groups want to challenge the law in order to claim ownership of certain mosques, such as the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura. If the law is weakened or overturned, it could impact these cases and others in the future.
The petitioners argue that many mosques were built on the remains of temples destroyed by invaders in the past. They claim that the Places of Worship Act prevents Hindus from reclaiming these temples and violates their right to freely practice their religion. Some also argue that the law goes against India’s secularism by allowing certain religious sites to remain unchanged.
However, in a previous Ayodhya case ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the law, stating that it is essential to protect India’s secularism. The Court emphasized that the law helps maintain religious harmony and should not be altered.
The Supreme Court will now decide whether to uphold or change the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. Most experts believe the Court will keep the law in place, as it supports India’s secular values and prevents the legal system from undoing past events.
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