Qutub Minar not a place of worship: ASI

• The Qutub Minar complex is not a place of worship and its character cannot be changed now, the Archaeological Survey of India submitted in a Delhi court recently, while opposing a plea challenging the dismissal of a civil suit seeking “restoration” of Hindu and Jain temples on the premises.
• The original suit, claiming that 27 temples were demolished to build the QuwwatulIslam mosque at the Qutub Minar complex, was dismissed last year under the provisions of Places Of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991:

• It seeks to maintain the “religious character” of places of worship as it was in 1947 except in the case of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, which was already in court.
• Section 3 of the Act bans the conversion of a place of worship or even a section of it into a place of worship of a different religious denomination or of a different segment of the same religious denomination.
• Section 4(2) says that all suits, appeals or other proceedings regarding converting the character of a place of worship (that were pending on 15th August, 1947) will come to end when the Act commences and no fresh proceedings can be filed.

Exemption:

• The disputed site at Ayodhya was exempted from the Act.
• Any place of worship which is an ancient and historical monument or an archaeological site covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
• Any dispute that has been settled by the parties or conversion of any place that took place by acquiescence before the Act commenced.