Gyanvapi Mosque Case: Varanasi court to resume hearing, AIMPLB opposes plea challenging Places of Worship Act

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has opposed a plea in the Supreme Court which challenged the Places of Worship Act, saying that the Act was made with the “noble intention to prevent disharmony in society”.

The AIMPLB said the Act was introduced to avoid any kind of tension which erupted after Babri Masjid demolition.

On Wednesday, the petitioners told the Varanasi court that the Places of Worship Act, 1991 does not apply in the Gyanvapi Mosque-Shringar Gauri complex case and Hindus should not be allowed to offer prayers there.

District Government Counsel Rana Sanjiv Singh said lawyers Harishankar Jain and Vishnu Jain put forth arguments for the Hindu side. The arguments will continue today.

Harishankar Jain told the court that the land on which the Muslim side is staking a claim is of Aadi Vishweshwar Mahadev, the presiding deity of the Kashi Vishwanath temple, and that namaz was offered forcibly there. He claimed that the Places of Worship Act, 1991 is not applicable in the matter.

The Act prohibits conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.