Lucknow mosque trustee moves SC opposing PIL on 1991 law on religious places

A co-mutawalli (trustee) of the Muslim Wakf of 350-year-old "TeelyWali masjid" of Lucknow approached the Supreme Court on Saturday opposing a PIL which alleged that the government cannot make a law to curtail the right to approach the court to reclaim the religious place.

Wasif Hasan moved the top court by filing an application in the pending PIL of advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and sought to intervene as a party in the case.

Seeking dismissal of the plea filed by Upadhyay in the apex court, Hasan said the co-mutawalli of the mosque has been fighting a case in a Lucknow court where Hindus are claiming that there existed a temple before the masjid came into being.

Earlier, the apex court had agreed to examine the controversial provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 which provided that except the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri masjid dispute no similar dispute related to a religious place can be reopened in a court of law.

The main PIL has challenged provisions of the 1991 law prohibiting the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.

The petition has alleged that the 1991-law creates an "arbitrary and irrational retrospective cut-off date of August 15, 1947, for maintaining the character of the places of worship or pilgrimage against encroachment done by fundamentalist-barbaric invaders and law-breakers".

( With inputs from ANI )