AIMIM Chief Owaisi Moves Supreme Court To Defend Places Of Worship Act

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has filed a petition in the Supreme Court supporting the Places of Worship Act, 1991. Owaisi urged the court to uphold the Act, stating that its abolition would harm the country’s religious harmony.

The Supreme Court will hear the petition on January 2.

The Hyderabad MP praised a previous judgment by the top court. The judgment directed lower courts not to pass effective orders on matters related to the Act or order surveys of places until the Supreme Court resolves the case. Chief Justice of India also stated that no new cases should be registered during the hearing.

Several leaders, including CPI(M), Maharashtra MLA Jitendra Satish Awhad, and RJD MP Manoj Jha, have also filed petitions supporting the Act.

In contrast, Vishwabhadra Pujari Purohit Mahasangh, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, Karunesh Kumar Shukla, and Anil Tripathi have filed petitions challenging the Act.

The Gyanvapi Mosque Management Committee filed an intervention petition. It argued that declaring the Act unconstitutional would have serious consequences.

The petitioner stated that many cases claim to remove mosques despite the Act’s prohibition under Sections 3 and 4. Section 3 bans converting places of worship. Section 4 preserves the religious nature of places of worship as of August 15, 1947.

Background Of The Places Of Worship Act

The Congress government, led by Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, introduced the Act in 1991 after the Babri Mosque demolition in Ayodhya.

The law preserves the religious character of places of worship as of August 15, 1947. It prohibits converting any place of worship, such as temples, mosques, churches, or gurdwaras.

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