All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defend the Places of Worship Act. His remark came shortly after the Supreme Court stayed Allahabad High Court’s order in the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Masjid dispute.

The Places of Worship Act prohibits the conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.

“The day that the Prime Minister states that he is standing with the Places of Worship Act 1991, there will be no more issues. When the Prime Minister states that all places of worship will belong to those under whose authority they were as of August 15, 1947, and there will be no changes, then no further issues will arise. Why is he not saying it?” Owaisi questioned.

Lauding the Supreme Court’s order, he said, “The Supreme Court has done the right thing. In the Babri Masjid dispute, the Supreme Court stated that the Places of Worship Act comes from the basic structure of the Constitution. When the Supreme Court says this, why does the government not agree with it?”

On Tuesday, the top court stayed the order appointing an advocate commissioner to survey the Shahi Eidgah mosque adjoining the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura. A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta called the application seeking the appointment of a local commissioner “vague”.

“You can’t file a vague application for appointment of court commissioner. It should be very specific on the purpose. You can’t leave everything to the court to look into it,” the bench told senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Hindu bodies, reported news agency PTI.

The court was hearing a plea of the Committee of Management Trust of the Shahi Masjid Idgah challenging the Allahabad high court’s order from December 14 last year. The court passed the order on an application filed by a plaintiff seeking restoration of the 13.37-acre land of the mosque. However, the mosque committee has argued that the lawsuit filed by the Hindu devotees is barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

The apex court further listed the matter for January 23 for hearing.

(With inputs from ANI)