Act of faith

Questions are now being raised about the legality of the Places of Worship Act, 1991

- SONI MISHRA

WHILE DELIVERING THE historic judgment in the Ram Janmabhoomi case in 2019, the Supreme Court had reaffirmed the significance of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. It had said that the act, meant to preserve the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, was vital to protect the secular features of the Indian polity. It had also stressed that the Ayodhya matter was the only exception to the law.

However, after that judgment, claims for restoration of the Hindus’ rights with regard to the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah Masjid adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura have been taken up in court. A similar plea regarding the Qutub Minar has also reached the court. While these claims are being critiqued and countered through the lens of the 1991 act, the legality of the law itself is being questioned now.

The Gyanvapi case, where the matter has progressed to the point of a court-mandated process to ascertain the religious character of the place of worship, and where a shivling was allegedly discovered during the survey, provides the most immediate and toughest test for the 1991 act.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid management committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, has challenged the survey in the Supreme Court; its contention is that the survey is barred under Section 3 of the 1991 act and also that the restrictions imposed amount to changing the character of the place of worship.