S.1 Short title, extent and commencement

       (1) This Act may be called the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
       (2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
       (3) The provisions of sections 3, 6 and 8 shall come into force at once and the remaining provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have came into force on the 11th day of July, 1991.

S.2 Definitions

       In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
       (a) “commencement of this Act” means the commencement of this Act on the 11th day of July, 1991;
       (b) “conversion”, with its grammatical variations, includes alteration or change of whatever nature;
       (c) “place of worship” means a temple, mosque, gurudwara, church, monastery or any other place of public religious worship of any religious denomination or any section thereof, by whatever name called.

S.3 Bar of conversion of places of worship

       No person shall 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 or any section thereof.

S.4 Declaration as to the religious character of certain places of worship and bar of jurisdiction of Courts, etc

       (1) It is hereby declared that the religious, character of a place of worship existing on the 15th day of August, 1947 shall continue to be the same as it existed on that day.
       (2) If, on the commencement of this Act, any suit, appeal or other proceeding with respect to the conversion of the religious character of any place of worship, existing on the 15th day of August, 1947, is pending before any Court, tribunal or other authority, the same shall abate, and no suit, appeal or other proceeding with respect to any such matter shall lie on or after such commencement in any Court, tribunal or other authority :
       Provided that if any suit, appeal or other proceeding, instituted or filed on the ground that conversion has taken place in the religious character of any such place after the 15th day of August, 1947, is pending on the commencement o

S.5 Act not to apply to Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid

Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to the place or place of worship commonly known as Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid situated in Ayodhya in the State of Uttar Pradesh and to any suit, appeal or other proceeding relating to the said place or place of worship.

S.6 Punishment for contravention of section 3

       (1) Whoever contravenes the provisions of section 3 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.
       (2) Whoever attempts to commit any offence punishable under sub-section (1) or to cause such offence to be committed and in such attempt does any act towards the commission of the offence shall be punishable with the punishment provided for the offence.
       (3) Whoever abets, or is a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit, an offence punishable under sub-section (1) shall, whether such offence be or be not committed in consequence of such abetment or in pursuance of such criminal conspiracy, and notwithstanding anything contained in section 116 of the Indian Penal Code, be punishable with the punishment provided for the offence.