Places of Worship or Ancient Monuments-Trajectory of Triumph or Throttle

1. Justice (Retd.) Jyotsna Sharma; Siddharth Shankar Dubey The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 (hereinafter referred as 'the 1991 Act') commonly referred to as the Places of Worship Act, was introduced with the primary intent of preserving the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947. This was done to prevent the conversion of any religious sites and to ensure communal harmony across India. On the other hand, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (hereinafter referred as 'the 1958 Act') was enacted to protect and preserve historical, cultural, and archaeological sites of national importance.

- Justice (Retd.) Jyotsna Sharma Siddharth Shankar Dubey

At first glance, the two laws seem to operate in different realms—one protecting religious harmony and the other safeguarding historical heritage. However, when applied to ongoing disputes over religiously significant sites such as the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi and the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple in Mathura, a nuanced legal interpretation reveals that the two statutes are not mutually exclusive. There is a dire need to explore the interplay between these two laws, establishing that the 1991 Act does not act as an absolute barrier to contesting ownership or title over religious sites, particularly when such places also hold significant historical and cultural importance as outlined in the 1958 Act. The ongoing debates over the Varanasi and Mathura sites demonstrate that contesting the title of these locations can be well within the bounds of the law, provided the historical and archaeological context is considered alongside religious interests.

The 1991 Act was enacted against the backdrop of rising communal tensions, especially concerning the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute in Ayodhya. The central objective of this law was to prevent any future disputes over the conversion of places of worship by locking their religious character as of the date of Indian independence on August 15, 1947. Section 3 of the Act explicitly prohibits the conversion of any place of worship, ensuring that no religious site can change its status from what it was on the said date. Section 4 fortifies this by preventing any court from entertaining suits or appeals regarding the religious character of places of worship. This section also mandates the abatement of any pending suits related to such matters. However, the Act carves out crucial exceptions, especially under Section 4(3) and Section 5, which prove essential in the ongoing legal discourse surrounding Varanasi and Mathura.