NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday deferred the hearing of petitions connected with the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, from February 17 to April. The court said that too many intervention applications were being filed and that there should a limit to such applications.
“We will not take up the Places of Worship Act matter today. It is a three-judge matter. Too many petitions filed. List sometime in March. There is a limit to interventions being filed,” said the CJI-led bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna.
Justice P V Sanjay Kumar and the CJI told the advocates of petitioners appearing for the hearing that since the case is a three-judge bench matter, the two-judge bench will not be able to handle it.
The bench added that many petitions have been filed and the hearing has to be postponed to a later date.
The apex court also expressed extreme displeasure over too many intervention applications being filed.
Last month, the Indian National Congress (INC) moved the SC to oppose the batch of pleas challenging the provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
On February 15, the INC filed an application seeking a direction to be an intervenor in these pleas. Many political leaders have openly supported the PoW Act and also sought to intervene.
The INC, in its plea, supported the PoW Act, 1991, stating that it does not violate the freedom of religion and that it is essential for communal harmony in the country.
On December 12 last year, a bench headed by the chief justice, while acting on a batch of pleas relating to the 1991 law, restrained all courts from entertaining fresh suits and passing any effective interim or final orders in pending cases seeking to reclaim religious places, particularly mosques and dargahs.
The Act prohibits conversion of religious character of places of worship from their status as of August 15, 1947.
The SC will hear the plea filed by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking a direction that Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the PoW Act be set aside.
The court will also consider a plea filed by former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy against certain provisions of the 1991 law. Swamy had sought directions to 'read down' the law so Hindus could stake claim over the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura.