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Places of Worship Act: Mathura mosque committee urges SC to close Centre’s right to file counter affidavit

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New Delhi, Jan 21: In a fresh application filed before the Supreme Court, the Committee of Management of Mathura’s Shahi Masjid Eidgah has pleaded that the right of the Centre to file its reply to the petitions challenging the validity of the Places of Worship Act, 1991 should be closed.

The plea said that in an order passed on December 12, 2024, the apex court noticed that the Union government had not filed its reply to the petitions challenging the 1991 Act for over three years and directed that a common counter affidavit be filed by the Centre within four weeks.

The mosque committee said that the Union of India is “deliberately” not filing its counter affidavit with the intention to delay the hearing, and thereby, obstructing those who are opposing the challenge to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 in filing their respective written submissions, as the stand of the Centre would have a bearing on the same.

The Shahi Masjid Eidgah’s application contended that since the Supreme Court has fixed the date of hearing of the batch of petition as February 17, “it would be in the interest of justice if the right of the Union of India to file its counter affidavit/ reply/pleadings/submissions is closed”.

In March 2021, a Bench headed by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) S.A. Bobde sought the Centre’s response to the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay challenging the validity of certain provisions of the law, prohibiting the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.

The plea said, “The 1991 Act was enacted in the garb of ‘Public order’, which is a State subject (Schedule-7, List-II, Entry-1) and ‘places of pilgrimages within India’ is also State subject (Schedule-7, List-II, Entry-7). So, the Centre can’t enact the Law.

“Moreover, Article 13(2) prohibits the State from making a law to take away fundamental rights but the 1991 Act takes away the rights of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs, to restore their ‘places of worship and pilgrimages’, destroyed by barbaric invaders.”

It further added, “The Act excludes the birthplace of Lord Rama but includes the birthplace of Lord Krishna, though both are incarnations of Lord Vishnu, the creator and equally worshipped throughout the world, hence it is arbitrary.”

In an interim order passed on December 12, 2024, the CJI Sanjiv Khanna-led Special Bench had ordered that no fresh suits would be registered under the Places of Worship Act in the country, and in the pending cases, no final or effective orders would be passed till further orders.

The Special Bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan, had asked the Union government to file within four weeks its reply to the batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions), 1991.

In an intervention application filed earlier on December 11, the Committee of Management of Mathura’s Shahi Masjid Eidgah, had said that the 1991 law, prohibiting the alteration of religious places of worship as they stood on August 15, 1945, was enacted by Parliament in the interest of the country’s progress, which has stood the test of time for more than 33 years.

It added that Parliament had enacted the 1991 Act, which has stood the test of time for more than 33 years and the petitioners have chosen to challenge the enactment belatedly, after 29 years.

The application said that the mosque committee is party to 17 different suits being tried by the Allahabad High Court, where the plaintiffs have staked a claim over the entire parcel of land over which the Shahi Masjid Eidgah has been built, and have further sought the removal of the mosque structure from the said land, claiming the same to have been built over Krishna Janam Sthan.

“It would be in the interest of justice if the applicant (mosque committee) is allowed to intervene and assist this Hon’ble Court in the adjudication of the issues (relating to the validity of Places of Worship Act, 1991),” the application had said.

National News

‘Agar Hai Tumhari Aukat…’: AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj Slams Surya kumar Yadav, BCCI Over Pakistan Game In Asia Cup 2025

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Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi minister Saurabh Bhardwaj slammed Suryakumar Yadav, BCCI for playing match against Pakistan In Asia Cup 2025. He even challenged them to donate the money earned from the India-Pakistan match to the widows of the martyrs in Pahalgam attack.

Speaking at a press conference, he said, ” Suryakumar Yadav agar tumhari aukat hai, tumhari BCCI ki aukat hai aur tumhari ICC ki aukat hai toh tumhe dusri chunati bhi dete hai. Jitna paisa tumne iss broadcast rights se kamaya hai, advertisers se kamaya hai aur iss pure dhande cricket se kamaya hai dedo uss shahido ki vidhwao ko uss 26 aurto ko. Hum bhi maan jayenge tumne dedicate kiya hai.”

(If you have guts, if your BCCI and ICC have guts, whatever money you earned from broadcasters and advertisers, give it to the widows of the martyrs)

Suryakumar Yadav during the post match interview that his team stands in solidarity with the Pahalgam terror attack victims and dedicatd the win to the Pahalgam victims and armed forces. He said, Perfect occasion, taking the time out we stand by the families of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. We express our solidarity. Want to dedicate the win to all our armed forces who showed a lot of bravery. Hope they continue to inspire us all, and we give them more reasons on the ground whenever we get an opportunity to make them smile,” 

There was a lot of chatter surrounding the India-Pakistan match, with social media being flooded with messages to boycott the match. The terror attack in Pahalgam in April saw 26 tourists lose their lives. In May, India retaliated with Operation Sindoor.

A day before the match, India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate also stated that his players are aware of the sentiments of the people back home and know their emotions. The beginning of the contest between India and Pakistan on Sunday saw no handshakes between Suryakumar

India registered a comfortable 7 wicket win over Pakistan on Sunday. However, the Men in Blue have now qualified for super 4 stage after Oman were eliminated by United Arab Emirates. Pakistan needs to beat UAE to have chance to play India once again.

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Business

Sensex, Nifty open higher as India-US trade talks set to resume

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Mumbai, Sep 16: The Indian benchmark indices opened higher on Tuesday amid mixed global cues, as US Chief Negotiator Brendan Lynch arrived in India to resume trade negotiations between the two nations.

As of 9.25 am, the Sensex was up 184 points or 0.23 per cent at 81,970, and the Nifty was up 47 points or 0.19 per cent at 25,117.

The broadcap indices outperformed benchmark indices, as Nifty Midcap 100 inched up by 0.26 per cent, and the Nifty Small cap 100 moved up 0.70 per cent.

Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank and Hero Motocorp were the top gainers on NSE Nifty 50 index. Titan Company, SBI Life Insurance, Asian Paints and Tata Consumer Products weighed on the Nifty 50 index.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Media, the top gainer, jumped 1.08 per cent. Nifty Auto (up 0.65 per cent) and Nifty Oil and gas (up 0.57 per cent) were the other major gainers. Except Nifty FMCG and Nifty PSU Bank, which were marginally down, all other indices were in the green.

Analysts said that, from a technical standpoint, a sustained move above the 25,160 level could pave the way for a rally toward 25,250 and 25,500 zones. The immediate support lies at 25,000 and 24,900 zones.

“The bold reforms – both fiscal and monetary – implemented this year have started yielding results and is likely to gather momentum in near future. An India-US trade agreement without the penal tariffs can be a shot in the arm for markets,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

Major US indices ended firmly in the green zone overnight as the Nasdaq rose 0.94 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.47 per cent, and the Dow advanced 0.11 per cent.

Most of the Asian markets made strong gains during the morning session. While China’s Shanghai index dipped 0.1 per cent, and Shenzhen inched down 0.26 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.54 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched up 0.07 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi inched up 1.2 per cent.

The US markets are pricing in a 96.4 per cent probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut on September 17, with additional cuts expected through year-end.

On Monday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,268 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 1,933 crore.

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National News

Bandra Fair 2025: 12 Individuals Booked For Theft On Opening Day

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Mumbai: Twelve individuals from Mumbai and the Thane region, including two 17-year-old boys from Amravati and three women from Pune were booked under nine FIRs at Bandra police station on Sunday, the opening day of the week-long Bandra Fair that will continue till September 21. The suspects, aged between 17 and 35, are from Amravati, Pune, Nirmal Nagar (Bandra East), Santa Cruz and Ambivli in Thane district.

According to the police, the accused had travelled to the fair posing as devotees to steal mobile phones, gold chains and pickpocket worshippers. The Amravati teenagers were caught attempting to steal mobile phones, while the three Pune women who already have theft cases against them for incidents during the Dagdusheth Ganpati festival were nabbed while trying to steal gold ornaments.

Assistant Inspectors Vikram Patil and Bajrang Jagtap led a 35-member team from police stations between Bandra and Versova, working under the supervision of DCP-zone 9, Dikshit Gedam. Around 50,000 devotees visited the first day of the 300-year-old fair, which also marked the reopening of the restored Mount Mary Basilica.

Mumbai Police said they are developing strategies to counter organised thefts by criminals posing as devotees. In 2018, Bandra police had similarly arrested three women chain-snatchers from Chennai during the festival, for whom an interpreter was arranged as they spoke only Tamil.

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