A bench of 5 Supreme Court (SC) judges, headed by Ranjan Gogoi, the Chief Justice of India (CJI,) announced the verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case in Ayodhya.
The disputed land, where Lord Ram is believed to have been born, was given to the Hindus, whereas an alternate 5 acres land would be given to the Sunni Waqf Board in Ayodhya.
The bench of SC judges, comprising Justices S.A. Bobde, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan, S. Abdul Nazeer and CJI Ranjan Gogoi, signed the verdict and delivered it after the Court hearing.
Mr. Gogoi appreciated the mediators, Justice Kallifulla, Sriram Panchu and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who submitted a settlement report regarding the mediation process.
The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case was a long standing dispute between the Hindus and the Muslims for a piece of land in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
The Babri Masjid was broken down by a few Hindu extremists, who believed Ram was born in the same spot where the Masjid was built. Both the Hindus and the Muslims were trying to reclaim that same piece of land.
The proceedings of the case began and the SC judges unanimously dismissed the Shia Waqf Board’s petition claiming rights on the Babri Mosque on the disputed land in Ayodhya.
Moving ahead with the proceedings, the SC, under Article 120 of the Limitations Act, barred the petition filed by Nirmohi Akhara’s suit.
After reviewing all the petitions, the SC announced the verdict in favour of the Hindus and handed over the disputed land to the Board of Trustees which would give the appropriate representation to Nirmohi Akhara.
CJI Gogoi said the demolition of the mosque in 1992 was in breach of an order passed by the SC. However, he also added, “For 325 years, from the construction of the mosque till 1857, Muslims have given no evidence of offering prayers at the disputed structure in exclusion of Hindus.” Therefore, the verdict was in favour of the Hindus.
The verdict and its points were announced by CJI Ranjan Gogoi.
A suitable plot of land measuring 5 acres shall be given to the Sunni Waqf Board either by the State or by the Centre.
The points mentioned by CJI Gogoi were:
- Hindus would get the land with the demands like the formation of a Board of Trust and inner courtyard of the land would be under the Trust.
- The Central Government should constitute the Board of Trust and decide its members within 3 months.
- Under Article 142, the SC directs in the scheme to be framed, Nirmohi Akhara would also get representation in the land.
- The disputed land would be under statutory receiver until the Board of Trust is formed for the allocation of land.
- The construction of the Ram temple would take place under the supervision of Trust.
The Government of India (GoI) issued prohibitory orders across Delhi to maintain public order.
Stay tuned for further updates.
