Supreme Court to Hear Challenge on 1991 Religious Places Law

New Delhi – The Supreme Court will look at a request on Tuesday that challenges a law from 1991. This law says we must keep the same religious character of places of worship as they were on August 15, 1947. The hearing will take place with Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar.

According to this law, no place of worship can be changed, and it protects how places of worship looked back in 1947. However, the law does not include the famous Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue in Ayodhya.

The request asks the Supreme Court to allow courts to check and decide what the original religious character of any place of worship is. It questions a part of the law (section 4(2)) that stops courts from making changes to the religious character of such places and bans new cases about it.

The petitioner, Nitin Upadhyay, a law student, argues that the law oversteps because everyone deserves the right to seek justice in court. He believes the courts’ power cannot be limited. He also mentions that the law allows for changes to restore the original religious character but doesn’t prevent scientific investigations to find out more about a place’s history.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court was unhappy with several cases about this law and said a three-judge group would hear these issues in April. Some petitioners were allowed to join these cases with new legal arguments.

In a December 2024 ruling, the Supreme Court paused about 18 lawsuits. These lawsuits were filed by Hindu groups wanting to survey the original religious character of 10 mosques, including Gyanvapi in Varanasi and Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura. Sadly, there were also incidents of violence connected to these issues.