Pleas Over Character of Places of Worship Dot UP's Legal Landscape

A special bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna will on December 12 hear a raft of pleas challenging the Places of Worship Act, 1991.

- Pawan Dixit

This comes at a critical juncture, with Hindu groups filing a bouquet of legal suits across the country to survey mosques, arguing that they were built over temples. The 1991 Act locks the religious character of holy sites as they stood on August 15, 1947, with an exception for the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, which the top court ruled on in November 2019. However, the Act notwithstanding, petitions seeking the redetermination of the character of places of worship have sprung up across the country, with a bulk of them in Uttar Pradesh.

Here's a look at the cases in Uttar Pradesh and where they stand.

Badaun, Jama Masjid

The Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha in an application in 2022 claimed that the Jama Masjid in Badaun is a Neelkanth Mahadev temple that was destroyed and converted into a mosque. The plea also made the state government and the ASI parties in the case, which is being heard by a special local fast-track court. The case will next be heard on December 10. The Hindu side claims the mosque was built by Sufi saint Badshah Sahamshuddin Altamash—13th-century pre-Mughal Muslim ruler—after destroying the temple.

Sambhal, Shahi Jama Masjid