A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging validity of some provisions of a 1991 law which prohibited filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.
The plea seeks setting aside of sections 2, 3, 4 of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991 on grounds including that they take away the right of judicial remedy to reclaim a place of worship by any person or a religious group.
The law had made only one exception which was the dispute pertaining to the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri masjid at Ayodhya.
The fresh plea, filed by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, through advocate Ashwani Dubey assumes significance as there has been ongoing demand by some Hindu groups to reclaim religious places at Mathura and Kashi, which are prohibited under the 1991 law.
The provisions not only offend the right of equality and life but also violate the principles of secularism, which is an integral part of the Preamble and the basic structure of the Constitution, it said.