SC said, can’t enforce places of worship Act within the same religion
Recently the Supreme Court has said that the Place of Worship Act cannot be enforced within the same religion.
The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by a sub-sect of the Jain community under Article 32 of the Constitution.
The petition sought the enforcement of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991 against the alleged conversion of its religious places by another sub-sect.
This Act of 1991 prohibits the conversion of any place of worship. Also, it provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it was on August 15, 1947.
Key provisions of the Act-
Section 3: It prohibits the complete or partial conversion of a place of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of any other religious denomination. This section even prohibits the conversion of a site of the same religious denomination into a site of another constituent.
Section 4(2): On the commencement of this Act, any suit or legal proceeding pending before any court in respect of the change of religious character of any place of worship existing on the 15th August, 1947 shall stand quashed. Also, no fresh lawsuit or legal proceedings will be initiated.
Significance-
- Through this law, the state has implemented a constitutional commitment to uphold the equality and secularism of all religions. At the same time, it has tried to put into practice its constitutional obligations.
- This law protects against reverting to the old status as an essential feature of secular values of India. This means that rights should not contain the idea of reverting to a former state.
Source – The Hindu
