SC stays Allahabad HC verdict on Ayodhya title suit

New Delhi, May 9 (PTI) The Indian apex court on Monday
stayed the Allahabad High Court's verdict dividing in three
parts the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in
Ayodhya in the noth Indian stae of Uttar Pradesh, terming
as "something strange" the judgement although the parties had
not asked for trifurcation of the land.
The Suprme court, while staying the September 13, 2010
judgement of the Lucknow bench of the high court, ordered
status quo at the site.
A bench of justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha, while
terming the high court's judgement "as something strange,"
said the partition of the land was ordered despite none of the
parties to the dispute seeking it.
While directing that there shall be no religious
activity on the 67 acre land, acquired by the central
government adjacent to the disputed structure, the apex court
bench said the status quo shall be maintained with regard to
the rest of the land.
In the wake of the court's order, prayers at Ram
Lala's make-shift temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya
would be going on as usual.
The Lucknow bench of the high court had in September
last year passed the verdict directing partition of the 2.77
acre on which the disputed structure once stood into three
parts among Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara.
"A new dimension was given by the high court as the
decree of partition was not sought by the parties. It was not
prayed by anyone. It has to be stayed. Its a strange order,"
the bench said.
Expressing surprise over the high court's verdict, the
bench observed, "How can a decree of partition be passed when
none of the parties had prayed for it.
"Court has done something on its own. It's strange.
Such kind of decrees cannot be allowed to be in operation,"
the bench said while staying the high court's verdict.
"It is a difficult situation now, the position is that
it (the high court verdict) has created litany of litigation,"
the bench observed.
Although the appeals filed by various Hindu and Muslim
religious organisations pertained to only 2.77 acre of
disputed land, the bench, however, also ordered status quo on
the 67 acre of land adjacent to the disputed site.
The bench was hearing a batch of appeals filed by
Nirmohi Akhara, Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, Jamait
Ulama-I-Hind and Sunni Central Wakf Board, besides the one
filed on behalf of Bhagwan Ram Virajman.
The Wakf Board and Jamait Ulama-I-Hind have submitted
that the high court's verdict should be quashed as it was
based on faith and not on evidence. They have contended that
the court has committed an error by holding that the
demolished Babri mosque stood at Lord Ram's birth place.
They have contended that claims of Muslims, Hindus and
the Nirmohi Akhara over the disputed site were mutually
exclusive and could not be shared.
"It was nobody's case in the high court that the
Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akhara were in joint possession of
the disputed premises. The claims of the three sets of
plaintiffs were mutually exclusive in the sense each set of
the plaintiffs claimed the entire property as its own and no
one sought a decree for partition of the property," the
appeals have said.
The Hindu Mahasabha, on the other hand, has sought
only partial annulment of the majority verdict of the high
court, which ruled handing over one third of the disputed
site to Muslims.
It has sought the apex court's endorsement of the
September 30 minority verdict by Justice Dharam Veer Sharma
who favoured handing over of the entire land to the Hindus.
"The judgement dated September 30, 2010 by Justice S U
Khan and Justice Sudhir Agarwal should be set aside to the
extent that one third of the property in dispute has been
declared in favour of Muslims and to allot share to them in
the decree," the Hindu Mahasabha has said in its petition.
It has appealed to the apex court "to maintain the
judgement passed by Justice Dharam Veer Sharma" as the
effective verdict.
A three-judge bench of the high court's Lucknow bench
had passed three separate judgements on September 30 with the
majority verdict holding that the area covered by the central
dome of the three-domed structure, where the idol of Lord Rama
is situated, belongs to Hindus.
While justices Khan and Agarwal were of the view that
the entire disputed land should be divided into three parts -
one part each to Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and the
parties representing 'Ram Lalla Virajman', Justice Sharma had
held that the entire disputed area belongs to Hindus.
Earlier, Delhi MLA Shoaib Iqbal had also filed the
appeal in the Supreme Court which refused to entertain it,
saying the petition "is misconceived. Hence dismissed."