A special bench of the Supreme Court will hear on December 12 a batch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the certain provisions of Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act, 1991, that prohibit the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.

The special bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice KV Viswanathan will take up for hearing a batch of petition at 3.30 PM on December 12.

The  petitions challenging the Places of Worship Act have contended that the Act takes away the rights of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs to restore their ‘places of worship and pilgrimages’, destroyed by the invaders.

The petitions have challenged the constitutionality of Section 2, 3, and 4 of the Places of Worship (Special provisions) Act, 1991.

The petitioners have contended that Section 2, 3, and 4 of the Places of Worship (Special provisions) Act, 1991 are violative of Article 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, and 29 of the constitution, in so far as it legalizes the illegal conversion of the ancient places of worship and pilgrimage into mosques.

On October 12, 2022, the Supreme Court had issued notice and given more time, and sought response from the Central government on petitions challenging the 1991 law.

On November 12, 2022, the top court had given further more time to the government to submit its reply to the petitions. The top court by its November 12, 2022, order had directed the Central government to file its reply by December 14, 2022, and had ordered the posting of the matter for hearing in the first week of January 2023.

During the October 12, 2022, hearing the court had given more time to the Centre to respond to the petitions challenging the 1991 law, as the government had told that it (government) was considering whether to respond to the petitions or not.

However, the top court had told the Central government that it would be in a better position to adjudicate the matter if the Centre spells out its position on the contentious issue. The court said that when the challenge is to a central legislation, we will be guided by what is the stand of the Central government in this case.

During the October 12, 2022, hearing in response to a query, the petitioners had told the court that petitions challenging the certain provisions of Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act, 1991, were not hit by what the five-judge bench had said about the 1991 law in Ayodhya judgment.

The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)  has also approached the top court opposing the petitions challenging the validity of Places of Worship Act, 1991.

The petitioners challenging the constitutionality of the Places of Worship Act include, among others, the daughter of Kashi Royal Family, Maharaja Kumari Krishna Priya, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, former Member of Parliament Chintamani Malviya, a retired army officer Anil Kabotra, advocates Chandra Shekhar, Varanasi resident Rudra Vikram Singh, a religious leader Swami Jeetendranand Saraswati, a resident of Mathura and a religious guru Devkinandan Thakur Ji.

Unlike other petitioners, Subramanian Swamy had told the bench that he was not seeking setting aside of the 1991 law but seeking only two more temples be excluded from its ambit of the 1991 law and then it can remain as it is.