Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal praised the Supreme Court

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal commended the Supreme Court on Friday, stating that history is created when judges step up to the plate. On December 12, 2024, Sibal wrote in a post on X, “Supreme Court.” History is being made when judges step up to the plate. We need to reorient a sabotaged democracy.

His comments follow the Supreme Court’s decision to prohibit all courts from issuing orders on ongoing lawsuits against established religious organizations.

While the court is considering appeals against the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, Justices PV Sanjay Kumar, and KV Viswanathan further mandated that no new lawsuits be filed on such claims.

Since the case is still pending before this court, we think it is appropriate to rule that while lawsuits may be made, no registrations or actions will be taken until this court issues further orders. The bench ruled that courts would not issue any final or effective interim decisions, including survey orders, in the ongoing lawsuits.

The nation’s top court was notified that there are now 18 cases pending against 10 mosques or shrines.

In addition, the bench gave the Center four weeks to submit an affidavit in a series of petitions contesting specific clauses in the Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act, 1991, which forbids bringing legal action to reclaim a place of worship or to alter its nature from what was decided on August 15, 1947.

The Supreme Court also voiced worry on Thursday over the increasing trend of abusing Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which punishes cruelty committed against married women by spouses and their family members.

A panel of Justices BV Nagarathna and N. Kotiswar Singh dismissed a Section 498A IPC complaint against a husband and his parents, stating that the section was used by the wife to vent her personal resentment against the husband and his family.

In response to the Telangana High Court’s decision not to dismiss the wife’s domestic abuse complaint against them, the husband and his family filed a criminal appeal, which resulted in the judgment.

After her husband filed a petition to dissolve the marriage, the wife filed a domestic abuse lawsuit against him and her in-laws.

The highest court ruled that the wife was abusing the laws that were initially intended to protect her and that the suits she brought were intended to settle personal scores and grudges.