‘Impossible to deal': Why Supreme Court rejected fresh petitions on Places of Worship Act

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said the matter will be heard by a three-judge bench.

The Supreme Court deferred to April first week the hearing on a batch of pleas relating to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

The bench was seized by one set of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991 and another set seeking the strict enforcement of the Act, according to Livelaw. The lead petition was filed by BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said the matter will be heard by a three-judge bench.

Problem of plenty 

The top court, through its December 12, 2024 order, effectively stalled proceedings in about 18 lawsuits filed by various Hindu parties seeking a survey to ascertain the original religious character of 10 mosques, including Gyanvapi at Varanasi, Shahi Idgah Masjid at Mathura and Shahi Jama Masjid, at Sambhal where four people died in clashes.

Earlier, the bench was hearing about six petitions, including the lead one filed by lawyer Upadhyay, challenging various provisions of the 1991 law. Upadhyay filed the lead petition in 2020 challenging the constitutional validity of Sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Act. According to him, these provisions not only contravene constitutional articles but also undermine the principle of secularism. The petition also stated that the Act denies judicial remedies for alleged "barbaric acts" of the past.

According to Livelaw, intervention applications have also been filed by the Gyanvapi Mosque Managing Committee, Maharashtra MLA [NCP (SP)] Dr Jitendra Satish Awhad, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (represented by Mr. Prakash Karat, Member Politburo) , Mathura Shahi Idgah Masjid Committee and Manoj Jha, Member of Rajya Sabha from RJD.

A writ petition has also been filed by SP MP Iqra Choudhary seeking stricter implementation of the Act.

What is the Places of Worship Act, 1991?

The Places of Worship Act states that the religious character of any place of worship, as it existed on August 15, 1947, must be preserved. In 1991, the then Congress government under former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao introduced the Act in Parliament.

Its long title describes it 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 as it existed on the 15th day of August, 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

Section 3 of the Act bars the conversion of places of worship, stating that "no person shall convert any place of worship of any religious denomination or any section thereof into a place of worship of a different section of the same religious denomination or of a different religious denomination or any section thereof."

The law fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places.

What did the court say?

The top court expressed its displeasure over the filing of several fresh pleas in a case related to the validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

"We might not be able to take it up", the CJI said when senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for a litigant, mentioned a fresh plea for hearing during the day.

At the outset of the day's proceedings, the senior advocate mentioned the matter. "We are constrained to pass this order after taking note of the number of fresh petitions filed. The pending writ petitions, which have no notices, stand dismissed with liberty to file an application raising additional grounds, if any. The new IA will only be allowed if there is any new point or new legal issue that has not been raised in the pending petitions. People keep on filing fresh petitions alleging that they have raised new grounds…It will become impossible for us to deal with the petitions besides whatever has already been filed," said the CJI.