New Delhi, February 4: A petition was filed in Supreme Court on Monday challenging the constitutional validity of the Acquisition of Certain Areas at Ayodhya Act, 1993. The PIL says the centre should not be allowed to acquire state land and both - the centre and the state - should not interfere in religious activities on 67 acres of land in Ayodhya.

The petition challenged the constitutional validity of the Ayodhya Act on grounds that Parliament has no legislative competence to take over the property belonging to a state and the state legislature has exclusive power to make provision relating to the management of affairs of religious institutions working in the state. The plea further stated the Ayodhya Act infringes right to religion of Hindus guaranteed and protected by Article 25 of the Constitution. Ram Mandir Via Ordinance or Law: Will Modi Government Adopt Somnath Route For Ayodhya?

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government asked the Supreme Court to allow it to hand over a part of the land near the disputed site in Ayodhya to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas. Of the 67 acres of land, including the 2.77 acres disputed Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid site, only 0.313 acres is actually disputed, the government claimed. Opposition parties believe the Modi government wants to hand over this land to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas that had been set up by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to undertake the construction of the Ram temple at the site.

Under the Ayodhya Act, the central government acquired 67 acres land surrounding the Babri Masjid and planned to build "a Ram temple, a mosque, amenities for pilgrims, a library, museum and other suitable facilities" in Ayodhya. Section 7 (2) of the Ayodhya Act virtually barred the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)-controlled Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas from acquiring any portion of the disputed land.

In 1993, the Supreme Court had ordered that the status quo be maintained on 67 acres of land that had been acquired by the Centre. A five-judge bench had upheld the act and supported the idea of building a Ram Mandir, a mosque, a library and other amenities on the acquired land.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 04, 2019 03:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).