Supreme Court To Hear Tomorrow Petitions Challenging Places Of Worship Act

[Update : The matter has been deleted from tomorrow's list.]

The Supreme Court will hear tomorrow a batch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions) Act 1991.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar will hear the matter.

The lead petition (Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India) was filed in 2020 in which the Court issued notice to the Union Government in March 2021. Later, few other similar petitions were also filed challenging the statute which seeks to preserve the status quo with respect to religious structures as they stood on August 15, 1947, and prohibits legal proceedings seeking their conversion.

The Union Government is yet to file its counter-affidavit in the matter, despite the several time extensions given by the Supreme Court. On July 11, 2023, the Court asked the Union to file the counter by October 31, 2023.

The petitioners argue that the law is arbitrary and unreasonable and infringes the fundamental right to practice religion, leading to the violation of the fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 25 of the Constitution.

Case Title: Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. UoI And Ors. WP(C) No. 1246/2020 and connected matters