Resolve Ayodhya dispute amicably, says SC
21 March 2017 8:15 AM GMT
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the amicable settlement of the Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute was a better course than on insisting on judicial pronouncement.
A bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said this as BJP leader Subramanian Swamy urged it to constitute a bench to hear a batch of petitions challenging a 2010 Allahabad High Court order.
The 2010 order said that there should be a partition of the Ayodhya land between the parties to the dispute.
Saying that negotiated settlement between the parties to the dispute was the best course, Chief Justice Khehar offered to act as a mediator provided that he would not hear the matter on the judicial side.
Pointing towards Justice Kaul, the Chief Justice said that he too could mediate.
Justice Khehar told Swamy: "Any person of your choice. You want me to mediate (but) I will not hear (on judicial side). You want my brother (Judge). There are issues. You all sit together across the table and decide."
BJP hails SC advice for amicable settlement of Ayodhya dispute
The BJP on Tuesday hailed the Supreme Court's advice for an amicable settlement of the Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that a solution through friendly negotiations was the best way to solve the long-pending dispute.
"This is a very good step by the apex court. Even the BJP has been encouraging solving the issue through negotiations. It is a very good step to solve the issue by sitting together and negotiating," said P.P. Chaudhary, Minister of State for Law and Justice and a senior BJP leader.
The apex court on Tuesday said that the amicable settlement of the Ayodhya dispute was a better course than insistence on judicial pronouncement.
However, another senior BJP leader, Subramanian Swamy, said that the Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya should be used only for constructing the Ram temple.
"Masjid can be built anywhere, Namaz can be read anywhere... it can be read on the street. The Ram Janmabhoomi is for the Ram Mandir and it should be used for the Ram temple only," said Swamy.
Swamy is also a petitioner who has sought that the Supreme Court should constitute a bench to hear a batch of petitions challenging a 2010 Allahabad High Court order.
The 2010 order said that there should be a partition of the Ayodhya land between the parties to the dispute.
However, the Wakf board ruled out the out-of-court settlement, stating that the case has been in the court for long.
"An amicable solution is impossible. This has to be dealt in the court itself. After all, it is long pending in the court," said Zafaryab Jilani, Convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee.
Babri case is about title: Owaisi
Virtually ruling out an out-of-court settlement of the Ayodhya dispute as suggested by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the case was about title.
"Please remember Babri Masjid case is about title which the Allahabad High Court wrongly decided as a Partnership case. Hence the appeal in apex court," he tweeted.
Owaisi is a member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which had challenged in the Supreme Court the 2010 verdict of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court directing that the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmbhoomi disputed site be divided into three parts.
The court had directed that the 2.77-acre disputed land be divided in three parts - two parts to Hindu organisations and the remaining to the Muslims.
The AIMPB, the apex body of Indian Muslims, termed the High Court verdict as "unacceptable", saying it was based on faith and not on evidence.
Describing the judgement as "strange and surprising" the Supreme Court had on May 9, 2011 stayed it.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday suggested out-of-court settlement while hearing an appeal by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for construction of the Ram temple.
Owaisi hoped that the Supreme Court would decide the other cases pending since the demolition of Babri Msjid in 1992.
"I hope Supreme Court decides the contempt petition pending since 1992," he tweeted.
"Waiting to hear about whether conspiracy charges will be held against (BJP leaders L.K.) Advani, (Murli Manohar) Joshi, Uma Bharati in Babri demolition case."
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