Ayodhya case: Muslim parties deny compromise reports, say 'do not accept' proposal

New Delhi: The Muslim parties in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case on Friday expressed shock over reports suggesting that the Sunni Waqf Board was withdrawing from the case and asserted that they "do not accept" the reported compromise made during the mediation process.

In a statement issued today, advocate Eijaz Maqbool, who represented key Muslim litigant M Siddiq in the Ayodhya land dispute, said all Muslim parties, except the Sunni Waqf Board, have rejected settlement as the main Hindu parties to the dispute were not part of the mediation process and its purported settlement.

"Accordingly, we must make it absolutely clear that we the appellants before Supreme Court do not accept the proposal made which has been leaked out to the Press, nor the procedure by which the mediation has taken place nor the manner in which a withdrawal of the claim has been suggested as a compromise," the statement read.

The mediation panel's report was submitted to the Supreme Court on October 16 after the five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, concluded the arguments and reserved its verdict.

The three-member mediation panel is headed by former apex court judge Justice F M I Kalifulla.

According to sources close to the mediation panel, the report filed in a sealed cover is a "sort of a settlement" between the Hindu and the Muslim parties, PTI reported.

The sources added that the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirvani Akhada, Nirmohi Akhada, Ram Janmabhoomi Punruddhar Samiti and some other Hindu parties are in favour of settling the contentious land dispute.

It was also purportedly said the Sunni Waqf Board was willing to withdraw the law suit as part of a compromised formula.

(Inputs from The Indian Express)