Supreme Court puts the ball in the Centre's court on Places of Worship Act? Sandeep Chaudhary Analysis

ABP News TV | Places Of Worship Act: The Places of Worship Act is being heard in the Supreme Court on Thursday (12 December 2024). Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that he will hear the matter. No new case should be registered till the next date. The CJI said, new cases can be filed, but the court should not register them (ie do not take further action).

The Supreme Court asked the central government to file a reply on the pending petitions. Apart from this, the CJI asked how many cases are there including Mathura and Gyanvapi?

The court did not comment on the survey orders

During the hearing, some lawyers objected to the survey orders of various courts. However, the court did not comment on it. A lawyer said that at present 18 cases are pending in different courts regarding 10 religious places.

Justice KV Vishwanathan said, if any hearing is pending in the Supreme Court, then civil courts cannot race with it. The CJI said, the Center should file a reply in 4 weeks. All parties should file their replies in the next 4 weeks. CJI Sanjeev Khanna said, a portal or some system should be made where all the replies can be seen. On this, the Solicitor General said, a Google Drive link can be made.

The Supreme Court also put a stay on the survey

The Chief Justice said that Kanu Agarwal will be the nodal advocate on behalf of the Center, Vishnu Jain on behalf of the anti-Act petitioners and Ejaz Maqbool on behalf of the pro-Act petitioners. He said that there are cases regarding Section 3 and 4 of the Act. The Center's reply is yet to come. Since the matter is pending in the Supreme Court, new cases should not be filed. No effective or final order should be passed in the cases that are filed. Orders for survey should also not be given till the next hearing.

The Supreme Court has made it clear that no new case will be filed regarding religious places. Hearing can continue in the cases that are pending but the lower court should not give any effective or final order. The lower court should not order a survey at present. The Central Government should file a reply on the pending case in 4 weeks. The petitioner should also file his reply within 4 weeks thereafter.