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ଓଡ଼ିଆ | ENGLISH
ଓଡ଼ିଆ | ENGLISH

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Published By : Pradip Subudhi
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New Delhi, February 18: The Supreme Court on Wednesday indicated that it would soon hear and adjudicate a series of petitions challenging the validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Act, which prohibits changing the religious character of any place of worship from what it was on August 15, 1947, mandates the preservation of that character. Any violations of this provision are deemed unlawful.

The verbal observation came from a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi, and Vipul M. Pancholi. This was made while the Court declined to entertain a plea filed by one Imran A., which challenged the decision of an Ajmer court to proceed with a lawsuit seeking an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey of the Ajmer Sharif Dargah. The petition claimed that the Dargah was built over an ancient Shiva temple.

In December 2024, the Supreme Court passed an order directing that no court in the country should register or entertain any lawsuits or pass any orders related to the Places of Worship Act until the matter is resolved by the apex court. Based on this order, the counsel for the petitioner argued that the Ajmer court should be restrained from taking any action that contradicted the Supreme Court’s earlier directive.

However, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea, which had been filed as an intervention application in the ongoing batch of petitions challenging the Places of Worship Act. The Court emphasized that if any court were to pass orders in defiance of its earlier direction, it would certainly review the matter. "We have passed an order, and it is binding on all. If someone issues an order in defiance of that, we will examine it, and consequences will follow," stated the CJI.

During the proceedings, Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain requested that his plea, seeking the vacation of the Supreme Court's December 2024 direction, be listed for hearing. The Court assured him that his request would be considered and advised him to check with the Court’s registry for further updates.