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The Supreme Court asked the Centre to respond to a plea challenging the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

Provisions

• Section 3 of the Act bans the conversion of a place of worship or even a section of it into a place of worship of a different religious denomination or of a different segment of the same religious denomination.
• The Act also imposes a positive obligation on the State to maintain the religious character of every place of worship as it existed at the time of Independence.
• This legislative obligation on the State to preserve and protect the equality of all faiths is an essential secular feature and one of the basic features of the Indian Constitution.

Exemption

Section 5 says: “Act not to apply to Ram Janma Bhumi Babri Masjid. Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the place or place of worship commonly known as Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid situated in Ayodhya in the State of Uttar Pradesh and to any suit, appeal or other proceeding relating to the said place or place of worship.”

Besides the Ayodhya dispute, the Act also exempted

• Any place of worship that is an ancient and historical monument or an archaeological site, or is covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958;
• A suit that has been finally settled or disposed of;
• Any dispute that has been settled by the parties or conversion of any place that took place by acquiescence before the Act commenced.

Source: The Hindu