New Delhi: The Supreme Court today, December 12, ordered the Union government to file its counter-affidavit within four weeks as it hears the batch of petitions challenging provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991.
It also said that no further suits – ostensibly asking for surveys of religious structures – can be registered till it hears and disposes of these pleas.
The law, brought during the height of the movement that led to the destruction of the Babri Masjid by kar sevaks seeks to keep the status of all religious structures as they stood on August 15, 1947.
It is noteworthy that the Union government has not responded to the apex court’s notice, even as the case begun to be heard today, especially as the Supreme Court had first issued notice to the Union government in March 2021 for its reply to the 2020 challenge filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwini Upadhyay.
Following that, it has issued notices on several related pleas and applications and tagged all matters so they could be heard together.
While the court has granted multiple extensions on different occasions, the Union government has yet to respond to the petitions.
Today, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna said, “Nobody will speak without our asking. Union needs to file an affidavit.”
To this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said, “Yes, we need to.”
Also on the bench are Justices P.V. Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan.
The apex court has notably, not stayed pending suits calling for surveys at mosques. When Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran told the court that there are 18 suits concerning 10 religious places are pending, Justice K.V. Viswanathan said that civil courts “cannot run a race” with the Supreme Court.
The judge also said:
“As the matter is sub-judice before this Court, we deem it appropriate to direct that while suits may be filed, no suits would be registered and proceedings undertaken till further orders of this Court. We also direct that in the pending suits, the Courts would not pass any effective interim orders or final orders, including orders of survey till the next date of hearing.”
Among those impleaded is the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind which moved the apex court in 2022, seeking impleadment saying that it was apparent that Upadhyay has sought to indirectly target Islamic places of worship.
The Supreme Court is choosing to hear the case at a time when civil courts’ responses to Hindu plaintiffs’ pleas for surveys at predominantly mosques and other Islamic structures have made news. In Sambhal of Uttar Pradesh, such a survey at the Shahi Jama Masjid was carried out in November, within three hours of the order by a civil judge senior division on a plea by Hindu activists who claimed that the mosque was at the site of a Kalki temple. A second survey at the same site led to large-scale violence, and to the death of four Muslims in the presence of police.
On November 27, a civil court in Ajmer issued notices to the Ajmer Dargah committee, Union Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), after a petition was filed, claiming that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah, was originally a Shiva temple.