Supreme Court tags Asaduddin’s petition on Places of Worship Act for hearing

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi's petition on Places of Worship Act tagged by Supreme Court, aims to maintain religious character.

Hyderabad Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi announced that his petition regarding the enforcement of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, has been tagged by the Supreme Court of India.

Taking to social media on Thursday, Mr. Owaisi stated, “I had submitted a petition to the Supreme Court seeking enforcement of the Places of Worship Act, 1991. The SC has tagged the petition today. I hope that the Court’s own ‘principle of non-retrogression’ will be enforced in letter and spirit.” The Places of Worship Act mandates the maintenance of the religious character of places of worship as it was on August 15, 1947. Advocate M. Nizam Pasha represented Mr. Owaisi in the case, according to the MP’s statement. The case was originally filed by advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi.

Earlier, the SC barred civil courts from registering fresh suits or passing orders in pending cases that sought to “reclaim” temples. Till December last year, there were as many as  18 suits over 10 places of worship that were filed in civil courts.