INDIA, December 16, 2024 (The Hindu): Pending civil suits over 11 religious shrines have emerged as the focal point in the ongoing challenge to the Places of Worship Act, 1991. The Supreme Court on December 12, 2024, issued a nationwide directive barring civil courts from registering fresh suits or passing orders in pending cases seeking the survey of mosques to ascertain whether temple structures lie beneath them. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna issued the freeze order while hearing a batch of petitions questioning the validity of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 (1991 Act) — a statute which preserves the character of religious places as they existed on August 15, 1947. Despite the law, a surge of petitions seeking the redetermination of the character of places of worship have surfaced across the country, with a bulk of them in Uttar Pradesh.

One of the suits is the Case title: Rakhi Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors and other connected petitions. The dispute over the Gyanvapi Masjid spans several decades. Hindu groups claim that the mosque was built atop the remnants of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, which Mughal emperor Aurangzeb demolished in the 17th century. In 1991, a suit was filed on behalf of the Deity Adi Vishweshwar demanding the removal of Muslims from the complex and the restoration of the temple. In 2021, five Hindu women approached a Varanasi district court seeking permission to worship religious statues located within the Gyanvapi mosque. In July 2023, the court ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct an extensive survey of the mosque to ascertain its antecedents. Subsequently, it concluded that a large Hindu temple existed before the construction of the mosque. On January 31, 2024, the Varanasi district judge allowed Hindus to offer prayers at the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi Masjid. A petition moved by the Gyanvapi Masjid Committee seeking the implementation of the 1991 Act is currently pending before the Supreme Court.

For a look at several suits concerning religious shrines pending in various civil courts, see source:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-pending-mosque-temple-disputes-across-india-explained/article68981657.ece

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