Top court to take up petition against Worship Act today-OxBig News Network

The Supreme Court will take up on Tuesday a petition challenging the validity of a provision of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, that mandates maintaining the religious character of a place as it existed on August 15, 1947.

Filed by Nitin Upadhyay, a law student, the petition is listed for hearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna.

Enacted by Parliament during the PV Narasimha Rao government in the backdrop of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir agitation, this Act freezes the religious character of a place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947, except that of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid, which was demolished by karsevaks on December 6, 1992. Following a Supreme Court verdict, a Ram temple has been constructed at Ayodhya.

However, with regard to other disputed religious sites, including the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah at Mathura and Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi mosque disputes, the Act continues to operate as a bar against any possible change in the character of the religious structures. Any place of worship, which is an ancient and historical monument or an archaeological site covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, is exempted from the purview of the Act.

The top court had on December 12, 2024, restrained trial courts across India from registering fresh suits and ordering surveys or passing any effective and final orders with regard to religious character of existing religious structures in already pending suits.

The stay order meant that in pending suits regarding the disputes over Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi mosque, Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah, Sambhal Jama Masjid, Bhojshala and Ajmer Sharif dargah, courts couldn’t pass any effective or final orders, including those for surveys.

The Bench had, however, refused to stay the proceedings in 18 suits already pending with regard to 10 places of worship/mosques/dargahs. It had clarified that it was examining the validity as well as ambit of the 1991 law.

The petitioner has sought a direction allowing courts to pass appropriate orders to ascertain the original religious character of a place of worship.

Allahbadia case to come up before SC

The SC will take up on Tuesday podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia’s petition against multiple FIRs filed against him over his controversial comment on parents and sex on Samay Raina’s YouTube show ‘India’s Got Latent’. Allahbadia’s plea is listed before a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh which had on March 3 allowed the podcaster to resume his ‘The Ranveer Show’ on YouTube after he undertook not to use profane words and maintain “morality ”.