Ensure no place of worship is built on public land: SC

New Delhi, Sat Aug 01 2009

Directive to Centre follows Gujarat High Court’s order of 2006 allowing demolition of such structures in Ahmedabad
 
The Supreme Court on Friday took a tough stance on encroachment of public places, and asked the Centre to ensure that no place of worship is constructed or built on public land.

The directive came during the hearing of an appeal filed by the Centre challenging a Gujarat High Court order of 2006 directing municipal authorities in Ahmedabad to demolish all illegal structures including places of worship occupying public roads and spaces. The illegal structures targeted by the Modi government included some temples too. But after communal violence hit Vadodara following the demolition of a dargah and the Army had to stage a flag march, the Centre rushed to the apex court seeking a stay of the HC order.

The Centre said while it was not supporting illegal structures occupying public land, it was concerned about the security of the citizens and the law and order problem arising as result of the demolition of religious structures. It said that if the HC order was not stayed, it would have serious ramifications on the unity, integrity and security of the nation and its secular fabric. Incidentally, the Centre was not a respondent before the High Court, but had, nevertheless, appealed to the apex court, which later stayed the impugned order.

Apprehending law and order problem if existing places of worship were demolished the bench too, while hearing the matter on Friday, said that no new place of worship should come up on public space.

"As far as existing religious institutions are concerned, we can understand that demolishing them will create law and order problem, but the Centre must ensure that no religious place comes up in future on public places," the bench comprising justices Dalveer Bhandari and M K Sharma said.

The court said the Centre must take steps to build a consensus on evolving a mechanism to deal with such encroachments. “Let us find a solution where we could stop any new temple or mosque or any religious place of worship from coming up on public space, street or land,” the bench added.

After being informed by Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium that the government is already pursuing the issue and following it up with the states and UTs for building a consensus, the bench sought for a detailed response within four weeks.

"The Solicitor General shall file an affidavit to ensure that no temple, church, mosque or gurudwara is constructed on a public street or a public space,” the court said, as it posted the matter for further directions on September 29. The bench further said: “Even if a single institution comes up on public place, the officers concerned would be suitably punished.”

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'No more places of worship on public land': SC

The Supreme Court of India has directed that there shall be no fresh construction of places of worship in public places in the country. The restriction will apply to all religions

The Supreme Court, in an interim order on September 29, 2009, said that there would be no new construction of places of worship on public land across the country. A bench, comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Mukundakam Sharma, said the order would be enforced until the issue relating to construction of places of worship at public places was finally resolved by the apex court. 

The interim direction was passed on a plea by the Centre that all states and union territories in the country had agreed in principle not to allow fresh construction of places of worship on public land; this applies to temples, mosques, churches, gurdwaras and places of worship of other communities. 

The bench, however, left it to the states and union territories concerned to decide on a “case-to-case basis” the removal or otherwise of existing places of worship that had encroached on roads/lanes. In order to comply with the order, the bench asked district collectors across the country to act as nodal officers and send their reports to the chief secretaries, who are then expected to file their reports and forward them to the apex court within eight weeks.

“Looking at the gravity and far-reaching consequences of the issue, we have decided to implead states and union territories in the matter,” the bench said while seeking a response from states and union territories on the issue.

Earlier, on July 31, the Supreme Court directed the government to ensure that no place of worship was allowed to come up by encroaching on public places. The court passed the direction while hearing a petition challenging the Gujarat High Court order of May 2006 asking municipal corporations in the state to demolish all illegal structures, including places of worship, on public roads.

However, it put the order on hold on an appeal by the Centre expressing concern that if the high court order was not stayed it would have serious ramifications on the unity, integrity and security of the nation. The Centre, in its appeal, clarified that it was not justifying the existence of unauthorised constructions. But, removal of religious places was a sensitive issue and must be subjected to scrutiny and classification before demolition.

Accordingly Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the Centre, submitted before the bench that states and union territories, at a meeting convened by the Union home secretary on September 17, had agreed to check such constructions.

No studies have been carried out so far to estimate the area of public land encroached on by places of worship in the country. The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act 2007 defines “public purpose” land as land acquired for the purpose of defence installations, infrastructure projects or public utility projects, where 70% of the land is purchased. The government cannot acquire land for private parties, except under the 70% condition, by paying compensation to the original owners.

Source: 

[I]            Hindustan Times[/I], September 30, 2009

[I]            DNA[/I], September 30, 2009

[I]            The Economic Times[/I], September 30, 2009

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