Andalib Akhter / New Delhi
President of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Maulana Arshad Madani has described the Supreme Court’s ruling on Worship Act Case as a ‘Landmark Decision’. In a statement, Maulana expressed hope that the ruling would stop those responsible for spreading communalism and unrest in the country.
He said that given the sensitivity of the matter, they had expected the court to deliver a final verdict, but even the interim decision was a big and crucial one. The court has put a halt on surveys of Muslim places of worship until further orders and has imposed a ban on the filing and hearing of new cases in lower courts.
Maulana Madani pointed out that the survey of the Shahjahanpur Royal Jama Masjid under the pretext of examining its history clearly showed that communal elements, by claiming mosques and shrines as temples, were using such surveys to create chaos and disrupt centuries-old peace, unity, and brotherhood in the country.
He said that this is the main reason why such people find the 1991 Act on the Protection of Places of Worship like a thorn and are hatching a dangerous conspiracy to get it repealed in one way or another. To end this law, a petition against the law was filed in the Supreme Court in 2022. Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind opposed it and approached the Supreme Court in support of the mentioned law.
Maulana Madani further noted that JuH had accepted the decision on the Babri Masjid with great difficulty, believing it would end mosque-temple disputes and promote peace and unity in the country. However, he expressed disappointment that their hope had been proven wrong. Today, once again, a conspiracy is being hatched to make the country’s situation explosive, just as the communal forces did during the Babri Masjid dispute. He added that the conduct of lower courts in this matter had been disappointing. Had the lower courts acted with better judgment, five innocent young men from Sambhal would not have lost their lives. He stated that even now, the administration and local police in Sambhal were treating people there harshly, and Muslims from the area were unable to seek justice.
Maulana Madani stated that today’s decision is a big one, as no new surveys will take place, and no new cases will be heard in lower courts. He expressed confidence that the final decision would uphold the 1991 law, as it was the only law capable of preventing rising communalism and religious extremism in the country.
The petition filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind in this case is Civil Writ Petition 782/2022, on which the court issued a notice to the central government on 9 September 2022. Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind is the only organization that filed a special petition to protect this law, and at the first hearing of the petition seeking to overturn the law, Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhawan appeared for Jamiat Ulama.
Since then, the organization has been actively pursuing the case. In today’s hearing, only five petitioners’ requests were listed, with Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind demanding the retention of the law, while the other four petitioners sought to abolish the Worship Act. After Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind approached the Supreme Court, other Muslim organizations joined the case as intervenor.
No fresh suit to be registered under Places of Worship Act: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court today ordered that no fresh suits would be registered under the Places of Worship Act in the country. It also ordered that in the pending cases, no final or effective orders would be passed till further orders of the Apex Court.
A Special Bench headed by CJI Sajiv Khanna asked the Union government to file within four weeks its reply to the clutch of petitions challenging the validity of the 1991 Act, which prohibits the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on 15th August 1947.
The Bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and K. V. Viswanathan, appointed advocates Kanu Agarwal, Vishnu Shankar Jain and Ejaz Maqbool as nodal counsel to make compilations of pleadings on behalf of the Union, the petitioners and the parties supporting the Act.
In March 2021, a Bench headed by then CJI S.A. Bobde sought the Centre’s response to the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, challenging the validity of certain provisions of the law.
Meanwhile, several intervention/impleadment applications have been moved before the Apex Court seeking the dismissal of the petitions against the Places of Worship Act.