Places of Worship Act does not apply as idols predate Independence: Hindus

The counsels also referred to an observation made in the 2019 Ayodhya verdict of the Supreme Court to assert the claim of Hindus on the property. Citing the order, they said under the Hindu law, destruction of a deity cannot change the nature of the property or the "pious purpose" for which it was built, and that "even where the idol is destroyed or the presence of the idol is intermittent or entirely absent, the legal personality created by the endowment continues to subsist".

via Economictimes