IN a landmark and unanimous verdict last Saturday, a five-judge Supreme Court bench cleared the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The 164-year-old contentious Ayodhya title suit has dominated India’s political and social landscape with a volatile mixture of communal tensions, bitterness and angst. The Supreme Court brought down the curtains on the festering issue by giving possession of the 2.77 acre disputed land to the Ram Janmbhoomi Nyas with the judges agreeing that Ram Lalla Viraj man (the presiding deity) was a juristic entity having right to ownership of land. Nyas was representing the presiding deity.
The Sunni Waqf Board will be given an alternate site of five acres for the construction of a mosque. The judgment said: “Simultaneously, with the handing over of the disputed property to the Trust or body…a suitable plot of land measuring 5 acres shall be handed over to the Sunni Central Waqf Board… The land shall be allotted either by: (a) The Central Government out of the land acquired under the Ayodhya Act 1993, or (b) by the State government at suitable prominent place in Ayodhya. The Central Government and the State shall act in consultation with each other to effectuate the above allotment in the period stipulated.” The land will remain vested in the statutory receiver (central government) till a trust is formed to manage it. The government has three months’ time to form the trust. Nirmohi Akhara, whose petition for management of land was dismissed, will have its representative as a trustee, ruled the bench headed by the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. Regarding Nirmohi Akhara, the judgment said that it was not a shebait (devotee) and hence its suit was barred by limitation.
At present, the disputed Ayodhya land vests with the central government which acquired it after the acquisition of a certain area as Ayodhya Act was passed in April 1993.
This story is from the November 18, 2019 edition of India Legal.
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This story is from the November 18, 2019 edition of India Legal.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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