The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991: Emerging Issues

By : Bipin Kumar Thakur

Page No: 385-402

Abstract
The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 locks the religious identity of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947. One of the main objectives of the Act is to prohibit the controversies arising from time to time with regard to conversion of places of worship. The Act bars any suit in a court of law seeking to change the status of any place of worship and thereby to restrain the demands for such conversions. The courts have allowed some suits seeking to ascertain the original character of the disputed religious structure on the basis of scientific survey. While hearing a plea challenging the maintainability of such suits, the apex court observed that f inding the nature of the religious place was not barred under the 1991 Act. Yet logically, ascertainment of original character of a religious place on the basis of scientific survey may be an antecedent that will eventually fillip the restoration of original character of the said place of worship. Thus, an anomalous situation appears to have arisen, which needs to be addressed. Perhaps it requires the Parliament to take appropriate action on the matter, including revisiting the Act, if so required.

Author:
Bipin Kumar Thakur: Professor, Department of Political Science, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi.