The Supreme Court today ordered that no fresh suits would be registered under the Places of Worship Act in the country. It also ordered that in the pending cases, no final or effective orders would be passed till further orders of the Apex Court.

A Special Bench headed by CJI Sajiv Khanna asked the Union government to file within four weeks its reply to the clutch of petitions challenging the validity of the 1991 Act, which prohibits the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on 15th August 1947.

The Bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and K. V. Viswanathan, appointed advocates Kanu Agarwal, Vishnu Shankar Jain and Ejaz Maqbool as nodal counsel to make compilations of pleadings on behalf of the Union, the petitioners and the parties supporting the Act.

In March 2021, a Bench headed by then CJI S.A. Bobde sought the Centre’s response to the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, challenging the validity of certain provisions of the law.

Meanwhile, several intervention/impleadment applications have been moved before the Apex Court seeking the dismissal of the petitions against the Places of Worship Act.