New Delhi, April 1 (H.S.): The Supreme Court has refused to hear a newly filed petition related to the Places of Worship Act. Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna stated that there is no point in filing multiple petitions on this matter. The court informed the petitioner that they may file an intervention application in the already pending petition concerning the Places of Worship Act. The petition was filed by law student Nitin Upadhyay, challenging the provisions of the Places of Worship Act.
The Supreme Court had issued a notice on the petition filed in the case on March 12, 2021, but the central government has yet to respond.
The Congress, CPI(M), and SP have filed petitions in support of the Worship Act. The petition from SP MP Ikra Hasan states that this act is in accordance with the country’s secular framework and that any changes to it would not be good for social harmony. There are several petitions pending in the Supreme Court both in support of and against this Act. In a petition filed by Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, it is argued that the Places of Worship Act is essential for protecting secularism in India. The Congress has stated that any changes to this Act could endanger communal harmony and the secular fabric.
The petition further mentions that the conceptualization of this Act was done before 1991, and its removal could pose a threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.
Several intervention petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court. Political parties such as the Indian Union Muslim League, NCP leader Sharad Pawar’s group member Jeetendra Awhad, RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha, MP Thol Thirumavalavan, as well as the Gyanvapi Mosque Management Committee in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah Mosque Management Committee in Mathura have filed intervention petitions supporting the Places of Worship Act. Challenging the Places of Worship Act, petitions have been filed by Kashi Naresh Vibhuti Narayan Singh’s daughter Kumari Krishna Priya, lawyer Karunesh Kumar Shukla, retired Colonel Anil Kabotra, Mathura’s religious leader Devkinandan Thakur, lawyer Rudra Vikram Singh, and Swami Jitendranand from Varanasi.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
