Petitioner in Places of Worship Act challenge seeks impleadment in Gyanvapi case before Supreme Court

BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who has filed a public interest litigation petition before Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 (Act), has now moved the apex court seeking impleadment in the Gyanvapi mosque dispute. .The application stated that Upadhyay is seeking impleadment for appropriate appreciation of the facts-circumstances in the case. The 1991 Act which was introduced during the height of Ram Janmabhoomi movement, seeks to protect the status of all religious structures as it stood on the date of independence by barring courts from entertaining cases which raises dispute over the character of such places of worship.The law further provides that such cases already pending in courts would stand abated.The Act, however, carved an exception for Ram-Janambhoomi site which was the basis for courts including High Court and Supreme Court hearing that matter.Since Ayodhya land was exempted, the Supreme Court had invoked this law in 2019 while awarding the disputed site at Ayodhya to child deity Ram Lalla. The Supreme Court had, however, reaffirmed that similar such cases cannot be entertained with respect to other sites in view of the Act.The Supreme Court had issued notice to the Central government in March 2021 in Upadhyay's plea challenging the validity of the Act. .The present application seeking impleadment in the Gyanvapi case, has stated that only those places of worship should be protected, which were erected or constructed in accordance with personal law of the person erected/constructed them, but places erected or constructed in derogation of the personal law, cannot be termed as a ‘place of worship'.However, the 1991 Act kept a cut-off date of August 1947 to legalize the illegal acts of barbaric invaders, it was submitted. "It is submitted that Hindus Jains Buddhists Sikhs have right to profess, practice propagate religion as provided in their religious scriptures and Article 13 prohibits from making law which takes away their rights. Moreover, the status of mosque can be given only to such structures which have been constructed according to tenets of Islam and mosques constructed against the provisions contained in Islamic law cannot be termed as Mosque," the application said. Muslims cannot assert any right in respect of any piece of land claiming to be mosque unless it has been constructed on legally owned and occupied virgin land, the plea added. The plea also said that a temple’s religious character does not change after the demolition of roof, walls, pillars, foundation and even offering Namaz."The mosque constructed at temple land cannot be a mosque, not only for the reason that such construction is against Islamic law, but also on grounds that the property once vested in the deity continues to be deity’s property and right of deity and devotees are never lost, howsoever long illegal encroachment continues on such property," it was submitted.