Supreme Court Hearing on Places of Worship in India

• A special Bench of the Supreme Court of India, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, is set to hear petitions questioning the validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

• The Act freezes the status of places of worship in India as on the day of its independence and bars suits that seek to alter such status.

• The petitions pose a significant challenge to the survival of secularism and could decide the trajectory of communal relations and the future of secular thought in India.

• The 1991 Act has exemptions, such as not applying to the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, or any settled or disposed of suit.

• The petitions highlight the demolition of temples by invaders and claim that the Act legalises such depredations and violates the right of Hindus and other communities to reclaim their places of worship.

• Despite these claims, the Court has observed that the Act imposes a non-derogable obligation towards enforcing secularism and preserves non-retrogression as an essential feature of secular values.