BJP's Rajya Sabha MP from UP submits bill seeking to repeal Worship Act

BJP's Rajya Sabha MP from UP, Harnath Singh Yadav, has submitted a private member's bill with the Rajya Sabha secretariat seeking to repeal The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Repeal bill 2022 was submitted on June 25.

The Places of Worship Act was enacted in 1991 to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947. Shri Ram Janmabhoomi- Babri Mosque was an exception to the Act.

Yadav argues that the 1991 Act not only violates fundamental rights such as the right to equality and the right to life but also infringes on citizen's constitutionally guaranteed right to religious freedom.


"Judicial review is one of the basic features of our Constitution and this Act violates it," Yadav told ET. "The 1991 Act legitimises the invader's illegal encroachment on the places of worship and barbaric acts by imposing an unjustified bar on judicial review."

Lately, several BJP leaders have been demanding a relook at the 1991 Act.