 Agencies
NEW DELHI, Feb 17: Expressing displeasure over filing of several pleas on the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, the Supreme Court on Monday said a three-judge bench will hear in April the pending post-notice petitions related to the 1991 law which mandates the religious character of a place to be maintained as it existed on August 15, 1947.
The top court, however, granted liberty to the petitioners like Samajwadi Party leader and Kairana MP Iqra Choudhary, who have filed the pleas recently and notices have not been issued on them, to file applications for intervention in pending ones by citing new legal grounds.
Dismissing fresh petitions, on which notices were not issued yet, a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said, "The writ petitioners can file an (intervention) application raising new grounds."
"We are constrained to pass this order after taking note of the number of fresh petitions filed. The pending writ petitions, which have no notices, stand dismissed with liberty to file an application raising additional grounds, if any. The new IA will only be allowed if there is any new point or new legal issue that has not been raised in the pending petitions," the bench said.
It then listed the batch of petitions and cross ones pertaining to the 1991 law in the week commencing April 1 before a three-judge bench.
At the outset, the CJI said, "People keep on filing fresh petitions alleging that they have raised new grounds…It will become impossible for us to deal with the petitions besides whatever has already been filed."
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave agreed to the bench and said no fresh plea be allowed on the issue.
Another senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for one of the old petitioners, raised the issue of non-filing of the response by the Centre to the petitions and said the last opportunity be given to the government for this purpose.
Earlier in the day also, the CJI expressed displeasure over filing of many fresh cases.
The bench also indicated that it may not take up the pending scheduled petitions, heard earlier by a three-judge bench, during the day as it was sitting in a combination of two judges.
"We might not be able to take it up", the CJI said when senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for a litigant, mentioned a fresh plea for hearing during the day.
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