The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to list for final hearing the batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which mandate maintenance of the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947.
A Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi said the matter would be scheduled after two pending nine-judge bench cases listed in March and April. “We will fix a date for the final hearing… Let us see. We will finalize the hearing dates after the 9-judge bench case,” the Chief Justice said.
During the hearing, the Court declined a request to restrain a civil court in Rajasthan from passing orders in the Ajmer dargah matter. The Bench said its earlier nationwide directions were binding and any order passed in defiance of them would be examined later.
“If they pass such orders we will see what’s to be done… consequences will follow,” the Chief Justice observed, adding that there was no need to interfere with purely procedural steps such as issuance of notices and filing of replies.
On December 12, 2024, the top court had restrained courts across the country from entertaining fresh suits and from passing effective interim or final orders in pending cases seeking reclamation of religious places, including mosques and dargahs.
The petitions challenge Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the 1991 Act, which prohibit conversion of any place of worship and bar suits seeking change in their religious character as it stood on August 15, 1947. The statute makes a single exception for the Ram Janmabhoomi–Babri Masjid dispute.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, urged the Court to take up the matter for final disposal, pointing out that issues were framed on October 12, 2022 and that the Centre has yet to file its response despite being granted time until October 31, 2022.
Upadhyay has contended that the provisions take away the right to seek judicial remedy for reclaiming places of worship and impose an “arbitrary and irrational retrospective cut-off date” of August 15, 1947.
In a separate plea, Subramanian Swamy has sought reading down of the law to enable adjudication of claims relating to the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Mathura dispute. The doctrine of reading down is typically invoked to save a statute from being struck down for unconstitutionality.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has opposed the petitions, relying on the Constitution Bench judgment in the Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute, which referred to the 1991 Act and emphasised the importance of maintaining religious status quo.
The Court had first sought the Centre’s response to the constitutional challenge on March 12, 2021 and later directed filing of an affidavit by October 31, 2022. The law itself was enacted to prohibit conversion of places of worship and to preserve their religious character as on the date of Independence.
The batch of petitions will now be taken up for final hearing after the conclusion of the scheduled nine-judge bench matters.
