Places of Worship Act: Mathura Shahi Eidgah mosque files intervention application in SC

New Delhi: A day ahead of the crucial hearing in the Supreme Court on pleas challenging the validity of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, the Committee of Management of Mathura’s Shahi Masjid Eidgah, on Wednesday, filed an intervention application, saying that the law was enacted by Parliament in the interest of the country's progress, which has stood the test of time for more than 33 years.

The application said that the validity of the law, prohibiting the alteration of religious places of worship as they stood on August 15, 1945, has been upheld by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in M. Siddiq (D) Thr. Lrs. vs. Mahant Suresh Das & Ors. case.

It added that Parliament, in the exercise of its powers and in the interest of the forward progress of the country, had enacted the 1991 Act, which has stood the test of time for more than 33 years and the petitioners have chosen to challenge the enactment belatedly, after 29 years.

Further, it said that the adjudication of the petitions against the Places of Worship Act is likely to have a significant bearing on the adjudication of its special leave petitions pending before the apex court against the dismissal of their application filed under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC (Code of Civil Procedure) and the pending suits against the applicant mosque committee.

The application said that the mosque committee is party to 17 different suits being tried by the Allahabad High Court, where the plaintiffs have staked a claim over the entire parcel of land over which the Shahi Masjid Eidgah has been built, and have further sought the removal of the mosque structure from the said land, claiming the same to have been built over Krishna Janm Sthan.

"It would be in the interest of justice if the applicant (mosque committee) is allowed to intervene and assist this Hon’ble Court in the adjudication of the issues (relating to the validity of Places of Worship Act, 1991)," the application said.

The Supreme Court has notified a 3-judge Special Bench to hear a clutch of petitions challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

As per the causelist published on the website of the apex court, a special bench headed by CJI Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Vishwanathan will hear the matter on December 12.

A similar application has been moved by the Managing Committee of Varanasi's Gyanvapi Mosque before the top court, saying that the consequences of declaring the 1991 Act unconstitutional are bound to be drastic and will obliterate the rule of law and communal harmony.

The mosque committee said that an Article 32 petition challenging a legislative enactment must indicate the unconstitutionality of the provisions based on constitutional principles and the rhetorical arguments seeking a sort of retribution against the perceived acts of previous rulers cannot be made the basis for a constitutional challenge.

"The Parliament, in its wisdom, enacted the legislation as a recognition of secular values of the Constitution. The applicant humbly submits that while this Hon'ble Court considers this challenge to the 1991 Act, the petition may be dismissed as being devoid of merits," the application had added.