Venerating the law

Supreme Court must ensure that 1992 is not repeated

The recent controversy over the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi is a big test for the Indian judicial system. The legal process that has been set in motion by a lower court in Varanasi and upheld by no less than the Allahabad High Court last month contravenes the terms of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions Act) 1991 that was passed under the P V Narasimha Rao government. The purpose of this Act, passed in the high tide of the Ram Mandir movement, was to maintain the religious nature of a place of worship as it stood on August 15, 1947.