The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Thursday moved the Supreme Court opposing pleas challenging the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
In a news release, Moulana Khalid Saifullah Rahman stated the Board has requested inclusion in two Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the 1991 Act.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and attorney Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay had filed a petition at the Apex Court, challenging the legality of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
Upadhyay claimed that the law violated Articles 25 (right to practise and propagate religion) and 26 (right to manage religious affairs) of the Indian Constitution and discriminated against religious communities by preventing them from filing pleas in the courts to have their places of worship restored.
The apex court had on March 12, 2021, issued a notice on the petition and requested a response from the Centre.
The board said that such petitions will “only create problems on the ground rather than resolving the claims of the alleged violation of fundamental rights of the litigants, who have their political agenda on priority.”
Such disputes disturb the social fabric of society” by “polarising people” on the basis of religion,” the board said in its application adding that India had already witnessed baths after the controversy erupted in respect of the Babri Masjid.
It emphasized the purpose of the 1991 Act is to put an end to alleged claims relating to the places of worship.
“Dispute relating to a place of worship between different communities is highly sensitive and endangers the breach of public order and disturbs the peace and tranquillity of society,” the board added.
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Rabia Shireen is a Staff Reporter at The Cognate.
