HC seeks list of church properties being used for commercial

The Allahabad High Court has sought details of church properties allegedly being used for commercial purpose in Uttar Pradesh.
A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice D S Tripathi passed the order last week on a plea filed by the Swaraj Party of India. The plea has raised the issue of church properties allegedly being utilised for commercial purposes.
According to the petitioner's counsel S N Pandey, the use of church properties for commercial use was illegal under the Places of Worship Special Provision Act, 1991.
The petition sought a ban on such kind of illegal use and also demanded that the violators be punished.

The petitioner cited instances of certain properties of Lucknow being used for commercial purpose.
After the hearing, the court directed the state to collect details of such properties within two weeks and furnish before the court on the next date of hearing.