Ascertainment of religious character of place of worship not barred under Places of Worship Act: SC on Gyanvapi mosque

During the hearing on the Gyanvapi Mosque case, the Supreme Court made certain crucial observations on the 1991 Places of Worship Act. On Friday, the apex court transferred the case to a district judge in Varanasi. “Ascertainment of the religious character of a place of worship is not barred under Section 3 of the Places of Worship Act, 1991,” Justice DY Chadrachud observed earlier in the day. Justice Chandrachud was also part of the five-judge bench that delivered its verdict on the Ayodhya dispute in 2019. He also said, “Suppose there is an Agiyari (a Parsi fire temple) and there is a Cross in another segment of the Agiyari in the same complex. Does the presence of an Agiyari make the Cross an Agiyari? Does the presence of the Cross make the Agiyari a place of Christian worship? Therefore if you have this hybrid character forget this arena of contestation. This hybrid character is not unknown in India.” Justice Chandrachud added, “What is the Act of 1991 therefore recognises. The presence of the Cross will not make an article of Christian faith into an article of the Zoroastrian faith. Nor does an article of Zoroastrian faith make it a structure of Christian faith. Therefore, at some level the survey whether the trial judge went far beyond his remit and whether it was appropriate, we will not hazard ourselves by rendering an opinion in the order at this stage.” Also read:  Gyanvapi Mosque row: Supreme Court transfers case to Varanasi district judge “We are also concerned about these issues but the ascertainment of the religious character of a place as a procedural instrument may not necessarily fall foul of the provisions of sections 3 and 4 of the Act of 1991,” he said. This came as the Muslim side argued that the Places of Worship Act also applies to Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque. Notably, Section 3 of the act bars the conversion of places, in full or part, of worship of any religious denomination into a place of worship of a different religious denomination. Places of Worship Act of 1991 Passed by the Narasimha Rao government, the Places of Worship Act of 1991 states that the nature of all places of worship, except Ram Janmabhoomi–Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, shall be maintained as it was on 15 August, 1947, when India became independent. Section 4(1) of the act states that the religious character of a place of worship shall continue to be the same as it existed on 15 August, 1947. However, the act exempts any place of worship which is an ancient or historical monument or archaeological site or remains covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. The Gyanvapi Mosque The structure was built by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1699. It is located adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Over the years, several petitions have been filed claiming that the mosque was built by demolishing parts of the Kashi Vishwanath temple. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.