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4 July 2026

Allahabad HC on acquisition of religious sites

The ruling provides a significant judicial interpretation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which is a critical piece of legislation concerning secularism and the constitutional balance between religious rights and state power.

1 min read Day 1 of 3 1 questions 1 prelims

Notes

  • The Allahabad High Court ruled that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, does not prevent the State from acquiring religious properties for genuine public purposes.
  • The court clarified that the 1991 Act is intended to maintain the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947.
  • The Act prohibits the conversion of a place of worship from one religious denomination to another.
  • The court distinguished between the conversion of religious character and the State's sovereign power to acquire land for secular, public infrastructure projects such as road widening.
  • The ruling was delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justice J.J. Munir and Justice Arun Kumar in the context of a petition regarding the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project.

Part of a longer story

This is day 1 of 3 in Legal disputes over religious sites in Uttar Pradesh, which has been running since 4 July 2026. Reading it whole is usually worth more than reading today alone — the exam asks how something developed.

Questions

  1. Discuss the scope of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, in the context of balancing religious freedom with the State's power of eminent domain for public infrastructure development. 150 words
    Attempt this — 150 words in 8 min
    0 / 150 words 8:00

Prelims

  1. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, primarily aims to:

Syllabus

Topics

Sources

250words.in · https://250words.in/daily/2026-07-04/allahabad-hc-on-acquisition-of-religious-sites