Today Supreme Court will hear the Place of Worship Act petitions
Places of Worship Act: The Supreme Court will hear the petitions related to the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions), 1991 on Monday, February 17. According to the agenda uploaded on the court's website for February 17, a bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice KV Vishwanathan will hear the case.
Meanwhile this Act prohibits the change in the religious form of any place of worship.
Bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear the matter
The Supreme Court agreed to the petition of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. His petition has been linked with 6 already pending petitions. In this way, the Supreme Court is going to hear 7 petitions today.
Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue was out of it
This Act prohibits the change in the religious nature of any place of worship. The law says to maintain the religious nature of a place as per 15 August 1947. However, the dispute related to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue in Ayodhya was kept out of its scope.
Court ready to hear Owaisi's petition
The court had agreed on January 2 to consider the petition of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi requesting effective implementation of the Places of Worship Act. On December 12 last year, a bench headed by the Chief Justice had barred the courts of the country from considering new cases related to claims on religious places, especially mosques and dargahs, and passing any effective interim or final order in pending cases till its next order.
Court had stayed the proceedings in 18 cases
The bench was hearing petitions, including the main petition filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay. Upadhyay has challenged various provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 in the petition.
The apex court, through its order of December 12 last year, had effectively stayed the proceedings in about 18 cases filed by various Hindu parties, requesting a survey to ascertain the original religious character of 10 mosques, including Gyanvapi in Varanasi, Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura and Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. Clashes took place during survey in Sambhal
Requesting a survey to ascertain the original religious
Four people lost their lives in clashes during survey at Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. The bench had said, "Since the matter is pending in this court, we deem it appropriate that no new case be filed till further orders of this court." It had said that the primary issue relates to sections 3 and 4 of the 1991 law.
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Section 3 prohibits the conversion of a place of worship belonging to one religious group into a place of worship belonging to another religious group, while section 4 deals with the declaration of religious nature of certain places of worship and restriction on the jurisdiction of courts, etc.
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Summary
During the previous court hearing on this matter, CJI Sanjiv Khanna had said that we have 2 cases before us, Shahi Idgah of Mathura and Gyanvapi Mosque of Varanasi. Then the court was told that more than 18 such cases are pending in the country.
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