The Supreme Court on Monday refused to permit any fresh petitions relating to the Places of Worship Act and expressed anger at the profusion of pleas related to the issue, which it posted for hearing before a three-judge bench in April.

The brief proceedings on Monday before a bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar witnessed submissions raised by the counsel for some of the petitioners complaining that the Union government, a key stakeholder, has so far failed to file a counter-affidavit despite the matter pending since 2021.

The 1991 Act prohibits any change in the character of a place of worship except the Ram Janmabhoomi site at Ayodhya.

“We will not entertainany further writ petitions…. There has to be a limit…. This cannot go on indefinitely,” CJI Khanna told lawyers appearing for various groups.

The bench made the observations when senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the petitioners, wanted the court to frame the issues involved so that the hearing could commence immediately thereafter.

But the CJI said the matter would have to be heard by a three-judge bench. The court fixed the matter for consideration in the first week of April.

However, senior advocate Vikas Singh appearing for a petitioner who also wants the Act to be quashed, complained that the Centre has not filed its response on the batch of petitions although the first petition was submittedin 2021.

“The first petition in this matter was filed in 2021 and today it has been almost four years and the Centre is yet to file its response. They should at least file a response on the original petition, if not on the new petitions. We believe that the other side relying on the Babri Masjid judgment is not at all applicable in this case...,” Singh said.