Shivani Thakur
Published on: May 23, 2022 at 18:40 IST
BJP leader and Lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, filed a Petition before Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 (Act), seeking impleadment in the Gyanvapi Mosque Dispute.
The Supreme Court had issued notice to the Central Government in March 2021 in Upadhyay’s Plea challenging the validity of the Act.
The Petition has stated that, “Only those places of worship should be protected, which were erected or constructed in accordance with Personal law of the person constructed them, but places constructed in derogation of the Personal Law, cannot be termed as Place of Worship”.
“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.
The Plea added, 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 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.