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(c) any other action taken or thing done under that Ordinance in relation to the said plot No. 242 shall be deemed never to have been taken or done.

(3) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act.

THE SCHEDULE (See Section 2(a)) DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA XXX XXX XXX

16. At the hearing, it was strenuously urged that the question of fact referred under Article 143(1) of the Constitution is vague; the answer to it is by itself not decisive of the real controversy since the core question has not been referred; and it also gives no definite indication of the manner in which the Central Government intends to act after the Special Reference is answered, to settle the dispute. It was urged that the question referred is, therefore, academic, apart from being vague, and it does not serve any constitutional purpose to subserve which the advisory jurisdiction of this Court could be invoked; that the real object and purpose of reference is to take away a place of worship of the Muslims and give it away to the Hindus offending the basic feature of secularism; and that, therefore, we should decline to answer the Special Reference. The learned Solicitor General who appeared for the Union of India was asked to clarify the stand of the Central Government on this point. Initially, it was stated by the learned Solicitor General that the answer to the question would provide the basis for further negotiations between the different groups to settle the controversy and the Central Government would then be able to decide the effective course available to it for resolving the controversy. On being asked to further clarify the stand of the Central Government about the purpose of the Special Reference, the learned Solicitor General made a statement in writing on behalf of the Union of India on 14th September, 1994 as under:-

If efforts at, a negotiated settlement as aforesaid do not succeed, Government is committed to enforce a solution in the light of the Supreme Court's opinion and consistent with it. Government's action in this regard will be even-handed in respect of both the communities. If the question referred is answered in the affirmative, namely, that a Hindu temple/structure did exist prior to the construction of the demolished structure, Government action will be in support of the wishes of the Hindu community. If, on the other hand, the question is answered in the negative, namely, that no such Hindu temple/ structure existed at the relevant time, then Government action will be in support of the wishes of the Muslim community.
SECULARISM, RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND RIGHT TO EQUALITY

31. It would be appropriate now to consider the attack based on secularism which is a basic feature of the Constitution, with the two attendant rights. The argument is that the Act read as a whole is anti-secular being slanted in favour of the Hindu community and against the Muslim minority since it seeks to perpetuate demolition of the mosque which stood on the disputed site instead of providing for the logical just action of rebuilding it, appropriate in the circumstances. It is urged that Section 4(3) provides for abatement of all pending suits and legal proceedings depriving the Muslim community of its defences including that of adverse possession for over 400 years since 1528 AD when the mosque was constructed on that site by Mir Baqi, without providing for an alternate dispute resolution mechanism, and thereby it deprives the Muslim community of the judicial remedy to which it is entitled in the constitutional scheme under the rule of law. It is urged that the Special Reference under Article 143(1) of the Constitution to this Court by the President of India is not of the core question, the answer to which would automatically resolve the dispute but only of a vague and hypothetical issue, the answer to which would not help in the resolution of the dispute as a legal issue. It is also urged that Section 6 enables transfer of the acquired property including the disputed area to any authority, body or trust by the Central Government without reference to the real title over the disputed site. It is further contended that Section 7 perpetuates the mischief of the demolition of the mosque by directing maintenance of the status quo as on 7th January, 1993 which enables the Hindus to exercise the right of worship of some kind in the disputed site keeping the Muslims totally excluded from that area and this discrimination can be perpetuated to any length of time by the Central Government. The provision in Section 7, it is urged, has the potential of perpetuating this mischief. Reference was also made to Section 8 to suggest that it is meaningless since the question of ownership over the disputed site remains to be decided and with the abatement of all pending suits and legal proceedings, there is no mechanism by which it can be adjudicated. The objection to Section 8 is obviously in the context of the disputed area over which the title is in dispute and not to the remaining area specified in the Schedule to the Act, the ownership of which is not disputed. The validity of acquisition is also challenged by others including those who own some of the acquired properties and in whose case the title is not disputed. Their contention is that acquisition of their property, title to which is undisputed, is unnecessary. Parties to the pending suits which have abated, other than the Sunni Central Wakf Board, have also challenged the validity of the Act, even though on other grounds, violation of Articles 14, 25 and 26 also is alleged on these grounds. This "discussion, therefore, covers these grounds.

In Re the Special Courts Bill, 1978, , this Court said:
Article 143(1) is couched in broad terms which provide that any question of law or fact may be referred by the President for the consideration of the Supreme Court if it appears to him that such a question has arisen or is likely to arise and if the question is of such a nature and of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Court upon it. Though questions of fact have not been referred to the Court in any of the six references made under Article 143(1), that Article empowers the President to make a reference even on questions of fact provided the other conditions of the article are satisfied. It is not necessary that the question on which the opinion of the Supreme Court is sought must have arisen actually. It is competent to the President to make a reference under Article 143(1) at an anterior stage, namely, at the stage when the President is satisfied that the question has arisen or is likely to arise and whether it is of such a nature and of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court upon it, is a matter essentially for the President to decide. The plain duty and functions of the Supreme Court under Article 143(1) of the Constitution is to consider the questions on which the President has made the reference and report to the President its opinion, provided of course the question is capable of being pronounced upon and falls within the power of the Court to decide. If, by reason of the manner in which the question is framed or for any other appropriate reason the Court considers it not proper or possible to answer the question it would be entitled to return the reference by pointing out the impediments in answering it. The right of this Court to decline to answer a reference does not flow merely out of the different phraseology used in Clauses (1) and (2) of Article 143, in the sense that Clause (1) provides that the Court "may" report to the President its opinion on the question referred to it, while Clause (2) provides that the Court "shall" report to the President its opinion on the question. Even in matters arising under Clause (2), though that question does not arise in this reference, the Court may be justified in returning the reference unanswered if it finds for a valid reason that the question is incapable of being answered. With these preliminary observations we will consider the contentions set forth above.