New Delhi: The Supreme Court in an unanimous verdict Saturday said a trust should be set up by the central government within three months to help build the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The Muslims, the court said, should be given 5 acres of land elsewhere in Ayodhya to construct a mosque.
A five-judge bench, headed by Chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, also indicated that the disputed site is for the Hindu parties.
“Possession of inner and outer courtyard will be handed over to the trustees,” the bench said.
The 5-acre plot should be given to the Muslims either by the central or state governments, the court said.
The dispute over the ownership of the 2.77 acres of land in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya — claimed by both Hindus and Muslims — has dominated India’s political discourse since the 1980s. The case reached a boiling point on 6 December 1992, when Right-wing ‘karsevaks’ demolished the 16th-century Babri Masjid they believed was built on the ruins of an ancient massive structure (temple) which essentially signified the birthplace of Lord Ram.
In the riots that followed across the country, over 3,000 people were killed.
The verdict of the constitution bench of the Supreme Court comes on an appeal against the September 2010 ruling of the Allahabad High Court which had trifurcated the disputed site between two Hindu parties — the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla Virajman, the deity installed at the site and seen as a juristic entity — and the Sunni Waqf Board.
All the parties moved the Supreme Court, stating that equal division of land was not something they had prayed for.
After facing challenges like bench formation and translation of manuscripts in English for over eight years, the SC began began continuous hearings in the matter on 6 August this year.
Agencies
