New Delhi, March 31 — The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear a petition challenging the validity of a provision in the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which mandates maintaining the religious character of sites as they existed on August 15, 1947.
Filed by law student Nitin Upadhyay, the petition is listed before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna. It contests Section 4(2) of the Act, which bars judicial proceedings to alter the religious character of any place of worship, except the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.
Upadhyay argued that the Act restricts the right to judicial remedy, violating the basic features of the Constitution. He claimed the law oversteps legislative powers by barring courts from adjudicating religious character disputes, contending that structural changes should be permitted to restore the original religious identity of sites.
The 1991 law, enacted during the PV Narasimha Rao Government amid the Ayodhya Ram Mandir agitation, freezes the religious status of places of worship as of August 15, 1947. It exempts ancient and historical monuments covered under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
The top court had in December 2024 restrained trial courts from registering fresh suits or ordering surveys regarding the religious character of existing structures in pending cases. However, it allowed proceedings in 18 ongoing suits concerning 10 places of worship, including the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi mosque and Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah disputes.
During the February hearing, the SC expressed disapproval over the filing of multiple petitions, stating, “There is a limit to which petitions can be filed. Enough is enough.”
