Places Of Worship Act Essential To Save Secularism, Was Part Of Our Manifesto: Congress To SC

The Indian National Congress (INC) on Thursday filed an Intervention Application in the Supreme Court seeking to be heard in proceedings where Several Hindu rights activists lawyers including Vishnu Shankar Jain and Ashwini Upadhyaya have filed petitions challenging constitutional validity of Places of Worship Act.

The Congress in the intervention application filed through its General Secretary and MP K C Venugopal has defended the Places of Worship Act passed by its government through Parliament in 1991 saying its necessary to protect secularism and ensure communal harmony.

Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna will hear the petitions on February 17.

The Act provides for a status quo regarding the character of religious structures as on August 15, 1947.

“It may be relevant to mention that at the time of the passing of the POWA, it was the Applicant along with the Janata Dal party that were in the majority in the legislature for the 10th Lok Sabha. The Applicant humbly submits that the POWA was enacted by the Parliament , as it reflected the mandate of the Indian populace. In fact, the POWA had been envisaged prior to the year 1991 and the same was made a part of the Applicant’s then Election Manifesto for the Parliamentary elections”, the Congress application says.

The POWA is essential to safeguard secularism in India and the present challenge appears to be a motivated and malicious attempt to undermine established principles of secularism. POWA plays a pivotal role in furthering the right to freedom of religion and protects secularism, which is an established basic feature of the constitution, it said.

Congress said it apprehends that any alterations to Places of Worship Act could jeopardize India's communal harmony and secular fabric thereby threatening the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.

“Notwithstanding that the present petition appears to have been filed with oblique and questionable motives, the Applicant seeks to oppose the present challenge to Sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Act, on the grounds that the POWA plays a pivotal role in furthering the right to freedom of religion and protects secularism, which is an established basic feature of the constitution. The instant petition challenges a legislation that both in form and substance safeguards fundamental rights and the basic features of the Constitution of India, including but not limited to secularism and fraternity. In such view, the Applicant seeks to make crucial submissions that support the outright dismissal of the present petition and accordingly humbly seeks to intervene on the following counts. Firstly, the primary ground of challenge herein is the lack of legislative competence of Parliament in enacting the POWA. Since the Applicant, through its elected members were responsible for the introduction and passage of the POWA, the applicant may be allowed to intervene and defend the legal validity of the passage of the POWA”, it said.

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