NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear, on Thursday, January 2, the plea filed by AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, seeking directions to the Central government for the implementation of the 1991 Places of Worship Act.
As several related pleas are already pending before the top court, it was expected that Owaisi’s plea would be tagged along with the older petitions, including that of lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, when the court convenes on January 2.
Owaisi, the Chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and a Member of Parliament, filed the plea on December 17, 2024, through advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi. He urged the court to direct the Centre to ensure effective implementation of the law, his counsel said.
The 1991 Places of Worship Act mandates maintaining the religious character of a place as it existed on August 15, 1947.
In his plea, Owaisi referred to instances where courts had ordered surveys of mosques following petitions filed by Hindu litigants, his counsel stated.
It is notable that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, was passed by Parliament in September 1991. The law was enacted to prevent the conversion of places of worship and to preserve their religious character as they existed on August 15, 1947, effectively freezing their status.
The Muslim side has approached the apex court, calling for the strict enforcement of the 1991 law to maintain communal harmony and preserve the present status of mosques. They argue that these mosques are being claimed by Hindus, who contend that temples existed at these sites before being razed by invaders.
Earlier, acting on certain petitions, a bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, in its order on December 12 last year, restrained all courts from entertaining fresh suits or issuing interim or final orders in pending cases seeking to reclaim religious places, particularly mosques and dargahs.