Explained: The Supreme Court putting a lid on the Places of Worship Act can of worms until it is ready to examine it

IN an important development, the Supreme Court has ordered that no suit shall be registered against any places of worship in India until further orders.

It has also directed that in the suits already pending before different courts across the country, no effective Orders or final Orders, including Orders for the survey of the places of worship, shall be passed until further orders.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar and Justice K.V. Viswanathan passed the Order to this effect. The Bench took note of the petitions challenging the validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 and petitions seeking to enforce the Act. The Bench noted that since the matter is sub-judice before it, it would be prudent to pass an interim Order.

The Bench passed the interim Order even as a battery of senior lawyers opposing the 1991 Act vehemently opposed any stay Order. At one point, CJI Khanna cautioned that if he was not allowed to pass the Order in court, he would pass it in the chambers.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the Union government, also resisted the passing of the interim Order, contending that any stranger who was not a party to a suit in the matter could not appear before the court and request a stay on all proceedings.

Attack on multiple sites

The interim Order passed by the Bench is likely to cease, at least temporarily, the relentless attacks on multiple places of worship of Muslims, including the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, the Shahi Eidgah Masjid in Mathura and the Ajmer Dargah in Rajasthan, which have been the target of at least 18 suits.

Shahi Jama Masjid, Sambhal

The Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal is the oldest surviving Mughal-era mosque in South Asia. Right-wing Hindu groups in India claim that it is the site of a temple and the tenth avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, Kalki, will appear among the descendants of the Brahmin priest of that temple.

A suit was filed by eight plaintiffs claiming that the mosque is actually ‘Shri Hari Har Temple’. Among other things, the plaintiffs sought directions to the effect that they have a right to access the Jama Masjid. They also sought an injunction against the defendants, the management committee of the mosque, from creating any hurdle in accessing the mosque.

The suit was accompanied by an application seeking the appointment of an advocate commissioner to conduct a survey of the mosque. The suit was filed on November 19, 2024. On the same day, Judge Aditya Singh passed an ex parte Order appointing an advocate commissioner for the survey of the mosque.

Subsequently, two surveys of the mosque were conducted in quick succession on November 19 and 24. The second survey led to violence between local Muslim residents and the Uttar Pradesh police, in which five Muslim residents were killed.

The management committee of the mosque subsequently approached the Supreme Court, where a two-judge Bench comprising CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar interdicted the civil judge, Sambhal, from hearing a suit concerning the survey of the Jama Masjid till the appeal filed by the management committee of the mosque was listed before the Allahabad High Court.