By Sangeeta Sharma
New Delhi, Jul 29 (LAB) The Supreme Court today allowed the petitioners challenging the provisions of the Places of Worship Act 1991 to file intervention applications in pending pleas in the already pending PILs on the issue.
A bench Comprising Justice DY Chandrachud Justice JB Pardiwala said that the petitioners with their intervention pleas will be able to supplement the grounds of the challenge in the pending petitions.
During the hearing, the bench asked questions on how many petitions are to be filed on the issue, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for one of the petitioners, said that the fresh plea can be tagged along with the pending ones. The bench, however turned down the submission and stated that the petitioners can intervene in the pending matter instead of tagging the pleas.
The bench after further hearing senior advocate Vijay Hansaria who raised concerns regarding some additional points of not being entertained in the intervention process, directed that the petitioner will be at the liberty to supplement the submissions in the main petition.
The PILs challenging the Places of Worship Act 1991 have been filed in the Supreme Court levels several allegations including one challenging the constitutional validity of several sections under the 1991 Act.
Also calling it “void and unconstitutional” for several reasons, the plea said that it offends the rights of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs to profess, practice, and propagate their religion and further also bars them from owning or acquiring religious properties belonging to the deity. / LAB SNG /