Sambhal: Why Social Media Brings In Justice DY Chandrachud
As the tension heightens in Sambhal, social media has held former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud accountable for the violence which has resulted in the death of 4.
Violence erupted in Sambhal when the court ordered a survey of the Mugal-era Jama Masjid following a petition filed by senior advocate Vishnu Shanker Jain, claiming that the mosque was originally a temple.
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Journalist Rana Ayyub holding former CJI accountable for the incident, wrote on X, “Four killed in Sambal. Former CJI, Justice Chandrachud had allowed for the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque and other Islamic structures citing that it would not violate the Places of Worship Act, 1991 Who is responsible for the loss of 4 lives ?”
Four killed in Sambal. Former CJI, Justice Chandrachud had allowed for the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque and other Islamic structures citing that it would not violate the Places of Worship Act, 1991
Who is responsible for the loss of 4 lives ?
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) November 25, 2024
DY Chandrachud during his tenure has allowed the dilution of the Places of Worship Act, 1991. It was just a year before the Babri Masjid was demolished, Parliament had enacted the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, a significant piece of legislation that prohibits “conversion of any place of worship” and provides for “maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15thday of August, 1947”.
No person can “convert any place of worship of any religious denomination or any section thereof into a place of worship of a different section of the same religious denomination or of a different religious denomination”.
However, the act does not apply to the Ram-Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid. Later the survey ordered in the Gyanvapi mosque case by the court raised a challenge to the Place of Worship Act.
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Thus, DY Chandrachud’s earlier judgment has now led the way for other courts to order similar manner. Raising this point, Journalist Aasif Mujtaba wrote on X, “No person can “convert any place of worship of any religious denomination or any section thereof into a place of worship of a different section of the same religious denomination or of a different religious denomination”.
The only person responsible for what is happening in #Sambhal is the retired Chief Justice of India #DYChandrachud. By opening the floodgates of Places of Worship Act 1991, he made it simple for any lower judiciary with Hindutva inclination to order for checking the existence of… pic.twitter.com/MLZWU50tSh
— Aasif Mujtaba (@MujtabaAasif) November 24, 2024
