Supreme Court Halts New Suits on Religious Structures Amidst Ongoing Challenges

The Supreme Court has ordered a halt on new lawsuits concerning religious structures, maintaining existing cases and restricting courts from issuing related orders. The Places of Worship Act faces legal challenges, with 18 cases pending across the country. The central government has four weeks to respond.

The Supreme Court has issued a directive halting all new lawsuits concerning religious structures while maintaining that existing cases will continue uninterrupted. This decision restricts other courts from issuing any orders related to these cases until the pending matters in the apex court are resolved.

Advocate Barun Kumar Sinha clarified that no court can authorize surveys or register new lawsuits related to the Places of Worship Act while the case is under adjudication by the Supreme Court. The court has set another date for further hearings on this issue.

In a related commentary, Advocate Mehmood Pracha noted efforts to reclassify mosques as temples amid ongoing legal discourse. The Places of Worship Act explicitly prohibits court actions that challenge the status of religious sites as determined on August 15, 1947.

The Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, emphasized that while suits can be filed, they will not be registered nor will proceedings commence until further notice. There are currently 18 suits pending nationwide against multiple mosques or shrines, and the central government has four weeks to address the batch of petitions challenging the act's provisions.

(With inputs from agencies.)