The Congress has filed an intervention application in the Supreme Court to oppose petitions challenging the 1991 Places of Worship Special Provisions Act, Bar and Bench reported on Thursday.

The move came in the public interest litigation filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay challenging the constitutional validity of the Act.

The Act prohibits altering the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947.

The Congress’ application says that the Act is crucial to protect secularism in India and argues that the challenge against it appeared to be a motivated attempt to undermine the country’s secular principles, Bar and Bench reported.

“The applicant seeks to intervene in this matter to emphasise the constitutional and societal significance of the POWA, as it apprehends that any alterations to it could jeopardise India’s communal harmony and secular fabric thereby threatening the sovereignty and integrity of the nation,” the Congress said in its application.

The Opposition party reiterated its commitment to secularism and stated that it played a key role in enacting the law when it, along with the Janata Dal, held a majority in the Lok Sabha.

The Congress contended that it must be allowed to intervene and defend the legal validity of the passage of the Act as it was, through its elected members, responsible for the introduction and passage of the legislation.

The party said that the Places of Worship Act is crucial for communal harmony and alleged that the plea by Upadhyay was filed with questionable motives.

“The present petition also erroneously states that the POWA is discriminatory as it is applicable only towards members of the Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist communities,” the application read. “A bare perusal of the POWA shows that it promotes equality amongst all religious groups and does not accord special treatment towards specific communities as alleged by the petitioner.”

The party said it fears that changes to the Act could undermine communal harmony, secular fabric and threaten the country’s sovereignty and integrity.

While the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind had earlier requested to be added as a party in Upadhyay’s plea, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi has also approached the Supreme Court to seek the implementation of the Act.

In December, the Supreme Court barred trial courts from passing orders, including survey directions, in pending lawsuits concerning the religious character of places of worship.

It also said that no new suits can be registered in any court across the country until further orders while it hears a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Act.

The order came amid growing concerns about the increasing number of lawsuits by Hindu parties claiming ownership of mosques and dargahs.

In November, violence erupted between Hindu and Muslim groups after a trial court ordered a survey of the 16th-century Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal. Five persons were killed in the violence.