‘No law can legalize the work of Babar, Ghazni’: lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay who argued in SC against the Places of Worship Act | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay said Thursday that the religious character of a place cannot be determined by mere observation and argued for the need for investigations at disputed locations.
Upadhyay also challenged the validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, calling it unconstitutional and claiming that it legitimized historic actions of rulers like Babar, Humayun and Tughlaq.
Lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay said, “The other side said the order to conduct inquiry at 18 places should be withdrawn. We objected to it because the Law on Places of Worship 1991, speaks about the religious character.”
He added: “The religious character cannot be defined just by looking at it. No one can tell whether it (a place) is a temple or a mosque just by looking at it. An investigation must be conducted. No law can be made to legalize the illegal work of Babar, Humayun, Tughlaq, Ghazni and Ghori. This law is completely against the Constitution of India.”
The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan on Thursday restrained all courts across the country from issuing interim or final orders, including investigations, in pending cases related to religious structures. Furthermore, the court prohibited the registration of new lawsuits on such disputes while the case is still pending.
The court was told that there are currently eighteen lawsuits pending against ten mosques or shrines across the country. The Center has been given four weeks to file its affidavit attacking the provisions of the law, which the petitioners say is unconstitutional and denies the right of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs to restore their places of worship destroyed by historical encroachments have been destroyed.
The Places of Worship Act 1991 prohibits the conversion of any place of worship and requires that its religious character be preserved from 15 August 1947.
Several petitioners, including BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, members of the Kashi royal family and other leaders, allege that the law unfairly denies communities the right to reclaim and restore their properties. historic places of worship.