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The top court had issued a notice to the Centre in March 2021. However, the Union government has not filed its reply despite several opportunities.
"It is submitted that the Union of India is deliberately not filing its counter-affidavit/reply vis-a-vis the challenge to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, with the intention to delay the hearing of the present writ petition and the connected writ petitions, thereby obstructing those who are opposing the challenge to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 in filing their respective written submissions/responses, as the stand of the Union of India would have a bearing on the same," the plea has said.
The petitioner has submitted that the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Places of Worship Act have been posted for hearing on February 17 and it would be in the interest of justice if the right of the Union of India to file its reply is closed.
In an important development, the top court had, on December 12 last year, restrained courts in the country till further directions from entertaining fresh lawsuits and passing any effective interim or final orders in the pending ones seeking to reclaim religious places, especially mosques and dargahs.
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The direction of a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan stalled the proceedings in about 18 lawsuits filed by various Hindu parties seeking surveys to ascertain the original religious character of 10 mosques, including the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura and the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, where four people were killed in clashes during a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era structure.
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The special bench was hearing six petitions, including the lead one filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, challenging various provisions of the Places of Worship Act.
The 1991 law prohibits the conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of the religious character of all places of worship in the country as it existed on August 15, 1947.
However, the dispute relating to Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was kept out of its purview.
There are several cross-petitions seeking a strict implementation of the 1991 law to maintain communal harmony and preserve the present status of the mosques sought to be reclaimed by Hindus on the ground that they were temples before invaders razed them.
