Author: Ayaan Siddiqui, Student of III Year, VI Semester at St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata
Co-Author: Tamanna Ali, Student of III Year, VI Semester at St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata
ABSTRACT
The Act Places of Worship (Special Provisions) 1991 was enacted to protect the social fabric from fragmentation by stopping conversion of religious sites and as a provision required maintenance of religious character to the religious sites as of August 15, 1947. This paper looks at the background, the law, and the case law that deals with the provisions of the act commencing with the concept of cultural integration, in implementing sociological approaches such as Section 3 prohibiting conversion and Section 4 preserving the status of the religious places, with respect to the cases of M. Siddiq v. Suresh Das (2019) and Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman v. U.P. Sunni Central Waqf Board (2023). The Sambhal Mosque controversy is presented as a case study while focusing on procedural irregularities such as the survey orders being issued and the respondents being denied a reasonable opportunity to be heard, bringing to the fore the abuse of judicial processes. Asaduddin Owaisi’s critical PIL is also highlighted as a relevant case pointing out the need for better measures to avert escalation of violence based on religion. The paper ends with proposing steps that can be taken to strengthen procedural discipline, appealing to the courts to adhere the spirit of the law when dealing with historical injustices and secularism in a bid to avoid the occurrence of disputes caused by religion in the future.
