New Delhi, July 14 (UNI) The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has moved the Supreme Court, seeking impleadment in petitions challenging the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
In a statement issued here, AIMPLB General Secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said, “The board has sought impleadment in two Public Interest Litigations (PIL) challenging the constitutional validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.”
It submitted that the assailed petitions relate to unsettling of a law, which the Apex Court has declared as ‘the commitment of India to the equality of all religions’. It further stated that the Act ‘is an affirmation of the solemn duty, which was cast upon the state to preserve and protect the equality of all faiths as an essential constitutional value, a norm which has the status of being a basic feature of the Constitution’.
The applications further pointed out that considering the nature of legislation under the 1991 Act and the affirmation of the Act by the SC as being a reflection of the basic features of the Constitution, granting indulgence to petitions such as the present ones, will only create problems on the ground, rather than resolving the claims of the alleged violation of fundamental rights of the litigants, who have their political agenda on priority.
The application also stated such disputes disturb the social fabric of society by polarising the people on the ground of religion, particularly when the country had witnessed blood baths after the controversy erupted in respect of Babri Masjid.
The applications emphasised that the object and the purpose of the 1991 Act was to put an end to the alleged claims relating to the places of worship. It has been further stressed that any dispute relating to a place of worship between different communities was highly sensitive and endangered the breach of public order and could disturb the peace and tranquility of society.
