Places Of Worship Act| MP Owaisi Moves Supreme Court Seeking To Restrain Courts From Passing Hasty Orders In Mandir-Masjid Suits

Member of Parliament and President of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Supreme Court, seeking to enforce the Places of Worship Act 1991. The petition also seeks general directions to all Courts on the procedure to be followed before entertaining suits raising claims over religious sites and passing survey orders thereon.

The bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar tagged the PIL with another pending batch of petitions relating to the challenge/implementation of the Act,  which will be heard on February 17. 

Notably, the Court is seized of a batch of petitions questioning the constitutional validity of the 1991 Act, which prohibits the conversion of places of worship's religious character from their status as of August 15, 1947.A writ petition by Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind seeking implementation of the 1991 Act is also pending. 

Citing the violent protests and killings that occurred as an aftermath of the recent ex-parte Court Order to Survey the Sambhal Mosque, the petitioner flags serious concerns of communal disharmony. The plea states : 

"This tragic incident is a stark indicator of the risks to communal harmony and public lives posed by such suits being entertained and surveys being ordered without due regard to the provisions of the 1991 Act. The incident at Sambhal is only the immediate trigger for this petition, and the issue extends beyond a singular occurrence and depicts a broader pattern that is being carefully designed and executed to undermine the secular fabric of the country and exploit it for political advantage. In this process, administration of justice also suffers in the nation."

The plea further spotlights the issue of similar suits against Dargarhs and Mosques.

"The courts concerned ought to apply their mind at the very threshold before admitting / issuing summons in a suit, and orders, if any, including for surveys should be passed only after granting the defendants an opportunity to be heard and should be executed only after providing sufficient time to the aggrieved parties to seek appropriate judicial remedies against the order."  

The plea also highlights 6 common factors in suits filed against mosques and dargahs across the country : (1) claim that the mosques/ Dargahs were built by Mughals after destroying temples on the site; (2) an alleged attempt to create a 'facade' of cause of action to get over limitation; (3) prayers for surveys on grounds of finding Hindu symbols at the site and expressing apprehension of danger to such symbols; (4) Most suits are filed by Plaintiffs who are not local residents of the concerned area; (5) the plaint draft refers to the present mosque or dargah as 'Old Temple' or 'Old Temple Complex' instead; and (6) Suit is filed with an application for appointment of an Advocate Commissioner to survey the structure and survey is mostly sought “on the basis of averments of the plaint”.

Thus the main relief sought by the petitioner is the formulation of directions by the Apex Court  on the procedure to be followed by "all Courts when a suit is presented to exercise judicial mind at the outset before admitting the suit/proceeding or passing any order(s) thereon and ensure that suit/proceedings barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 are not entertained and clever drafting is not given a way to bypass the provisions thereof"  

Apart from this, the petitioner seeks the implementation of the 1991 Act along with directions to all courts to examine the tenability of the suit (both pending and fresh) in light of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, at the very outset, and return the suits if they are found to fall foul of the said Act. 

In the alternative it is sought that directions be issued to all Courts and Tribunals to ensure that in case any suit or appeal concerning a place of worship that is found to be maintainable, no further proceedings should be undertaken until sufficient time is given to the aggrieved party to seek appellate remedies against the finding on maintainability; and

Further, without prejudice to the above, issue directions to all Courts, Tribunals and other authorities hearing any suit or other proceedings involving a place of worship, that surveys or similar actions are not ordered or executed without providing the defendants a fair opportunity to be heard and sufficient time to seek appellate remedies

On December 12, the bench of CJI Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Visvanathan ordered an interim stay against filing any suits against places of worship and restrained district courts from directing surveys in pending suits (such as those concerning Gyanvapi mosque, Mathura Shahi Idgah, Sambhal Jama Masjid etc.)

Counsel for the Petitioners : Advocate Nizamuddin Pasha, Advocate Awstika Das, AOR Fuzail Ayyubi 

Case Details : ASADUDDIN OWAISI Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. W.P.(C) No. 846/2024

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