New Delhi: The Supreme Court has notified a three-judge Special Bench to hear a group of petitions challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, IANS reported.
The Act prohibits the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.
As per the cause list published on the website of the apex court, a Special Bench headed by CJI Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan will hear the matter on December 12.
In March 2021, a Bench headed by then CJI S.A. Bobde sought the Centre's response to the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay challenging the validity of certain provisions of the law.
The plea said, "The 1991 Act was enacted in the garb of 'Public order', which is a State subject (Schedule-7, List-II, Entry-1) and 'places of pilgrimages within India' is also State subject (Schedule-7, List-II, Entry-7). So, the Centre can't enact the Law. Moreover, Article 13(2) prohibits the State from making a law to take away fundamental rights, but the 1991 Act takes away the rights of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs to restore their 'places of worship and pilgrimages', destroyed by barbaric invaders."
It further added, "The Act excludes the birthplace of Lord Rama but includes the birthplace of Lord Krishna, though both are incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the creator and equally worshiped throughout the word, hence it is arbitrary."
Meanwhile, the Managing Committee of Varanasi's Gyanvapi Mosque has moved the Supreme Court, seeking the dismissal of the petitions against the Places of Worship Act, saying that consequences of declaring the 1991 Act unconstitutional are bound to be drastic and will obliterate the rule of law and communal harmony.