New Delhi: Another petition has been filed in the top court challenging the constitutional validity of certain sections of the Places of Worship Act, 1991. The petition, filed on behalf of a retired army officer, Anil Kabotra, claimed that the law violates the principles of secularism and is against the principles of the rule of law, which is an integral part of the Preamble of the Constitution and its basic structure. Due to the recent Gyanvapi case of Varanasi, this law has once again come into the limelight.
Lawyers Ashwini Upadhyay, Varanasi resident Rudra Vikram, Swami Jitendraanand Saraswati, Vrindavan resident Devkinandan Thakur ji and a religious guru have already filed petitions against the law in the apex court. According to media reports, the petition has challenged the constitutional validity of sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. It is said to be in violation of Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26 and 29 of the Constitution. Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the act have also taken away the right to approach the court.
The petitions filed in the Supreme Court said that Section 3 of the act prohibits changing the appearance of places of worship. It said that no person shall convert any religious denomination or any of its classes of worship into a separate religious denomination or a place of worship of any of its classes. Section 4 prohibits the filing of a case or initiating any legal proceeding to change the status of any place of worship to a different status from the religious character that existed on August 15, 1947. On the other hand, it allows Muslims to make claims under Section 107 of the Wakf Act.
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