New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has postponed the hearing of a batch of pleas related to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, to the first week of April. A bench, consisting of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, stated that the matter would be heard by a three-judge bench.
The case, which has been a subject of controversy, deals with the validity of the Act that mandates the religious character of a place of worship to be maintained as it was on August 15, 1947.
On Monday, the Chief Justice expressed concerns about the growing number of petitions filed in relation to the case, saying, “We might not be able to take it up.” He also noted that there is a limit to how many interim applications (IAs) can be filed.
The court had previously stalled proceedings in several lawsuits, including those filed by Hindu groups seeking a survey of various mosques, including the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura. The matter was initially scheduled for hearing on February 17 but will now be taken up in April.
