PLACES OF WORSHIP ACT, 1991 - POLITY

News: Govt tells SC ‘detailed consultations’ at a ‘particular level’ needed on the fate of Places of Worship Act

What's in the news?

       The Government in the Supreme Court sought more time to clarify its stand on the validity of the Places of Worship Act, saying “detailed consultations” are needed at a “particular level”.

       The 1991 Act protects the identity and character of religious places as they were on August 15, 1947.

       The court’s readiness to test the law is significant considering the recent happenings in courts in Delhi, Varanasi, Mathura and the Supreme Court which test the protective grip and probe the boundaries of the 1991 Act.

Places of Worship Act, 1991:

       The Places of Worship Act, 1991, prohibits "conversion of any place of worship" and provides "for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August, 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto".

       Section 3 of the Act bars the conversion of places of worship. It states, "No person shall convert any place of worship of any religious denomination or any section thereof into a place of worship of a different section of the same religious denomination or of a different religious denomination or any section thereof."

       Section 4(1) of the Act states that "the religious character of a place of worship existing on the 15th day of August, 1947 shall continue to be the same as it existed on that day".

       Section 4(2) of the Act further states that "any suit, appeal or other proceeding with respect to the conversion of the religious character of any place of worship, existing on the 15th day of August, 1947, is pending before any court, tribunal or other authority, the same shall abate, and no suit, appeal or other proceeding with respect to any such matter shall lie on or after such commencement in any court, tribunal or other authority".

Exemptions:

       Section 5: It says that the Act shall not be applied to Ram Janma Bhumi Babri Masjid dispute.

       Other than that, the Act also exempts:

       Any place of worship, that is an ancient and historical monument or an archaeological site. It must be covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

       A suit that has been finally settled or disposed of.

       Any dispute that has been settled by the parties or conversion of any place that took place by acquiescence before the Act commenced.

Objectives:

       To freeze the status of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.

       To provide for the maintenance of the religious character of such a place of worship as on that day.

       To pre-empt new claims by any group about the past status of any place of worship and attempts to reclaim the structures or the land on which they stood.

       The Act also imposes a positive obligation on the State to maintain the religious character of every place of worship as it existed at the time of Independence.

       This legislative obligation on the State to preserve and protect the equality of all faiths is an essential secular feature and one of the basic features of the Indian Constitution.

Concerns:

       The Act has created arbitrary irrational retrospective cutoff dates and has barred the remedies against illegal encroachment on the places of worship and pilgrimages.

       The Act is unconstitutional and beyond its (Parliament’s) law-making power.

       It is against the principle of law ‘ubi jus ibi remedium (where there is a right, there is a remedy), “thus violating the concept of justice and Rule of Law, which is the core of Article 14”.

       Article 13(2) prohibits the State from making any law which takes away or abridged fundamental rights conferred under Part-III of the Constitution. But the Act bars the right to seek judicial review of a grievance.

       Violates the principles of secularism.

Supreme Court Observations:

1. Legislative Instrument: The Court held the Act as a legislative intervention which imposed a non-derogable obligation towards enforcing commitment to secularism which is one of the basic features of the Indian Constitution.

2. Constitution obligation: The State, by enacting the law, enforced a constitutional commitment and operationalized its constitutional obligations to uphold the equality of all religions.

3. Guarantee to all: The Act has provided guarantee to every religious community for the preservation of their places of worship as they existed on 15 August 1947 that furnishes a constitutional basis for healing the injustices of the past colonial rule.