The Supreme Court will hear petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. A bench consisting of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar will conduct the hearing.
A total of six petitions have been filed in this case, including one by the World Bhadra Pujari Purohit Federation, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, Ashwini Upadhyay, and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. While one group has called for the Act to be struck down, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has filed a petition in support of the law.
Recently, following a lower court's decision, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind had written to the Supreme Court urging for an early hearing. The case stems from a survey conducted by a court commissioner at the historic Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal.
The Places of Worship Act, 1991, which prohibits the conversion of any place of worship and mandates the maintenance of the religious character of a place of worship as it stood on August 15, 1947, was challenged in the Supreme Court by Hindu petitioners in 2020. In contrast, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind filed its petition in support of the Act in 2022.
The Supreme Court will now hear all these petitions together on December 4.
What is Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act?
The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act prohibits conversion of places of worship and provides for maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship, as existed on August 15, 1947.
On May 20, 2022, the top court made oral observations while hearing a dispute involving the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and said ascertaining the religious character of a place of worship was not barred under the Act.
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