Temple at disputed site

New Delhi: Settling a fractious issue that goes back more than a century, the Supreme Court in a historic verdict on Saturday backed the construction of a Ram temple by a government trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and ordered the allotment of an alternative piece of five acres of land to the Muslims for a mosque. The apex court has ordered the Centre to formulate a scheme within three months to set up a board of trustees for the construction of a temple at the disputed structure.

Delivering a unanimous verdict on a case that has long polarised the country, a five-judge bench of the apex court headed by the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said the faith of Hindus that Lord Ram was born at the site was undisputed, and he is symbolically the owner of the land.

Yet, it is also clear that the destruction of the 16th century three-domed structure by Hindu Kar Sevaks, who want to build a Ram temple there, was wrong that "must be remedied," the ruling said.

The judgement said it is not concerned with faith and belief, and instead treated the case as a title dispute over land between three parties — the Sunni Muslim Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu group, and the symbolic Lord Rama designated as Ram Lalla Virajman.

The SC ruled that the Nirmohi Akhara suit was not maintainable and it has no shebait rights (priestly rights). However, the court directed that in the board of trustees that will be set up, the Nirmohi Akhara should be given appropriate representation. The claim of Shia Waqf Board against Sunni Board to Babri Masjid was also dismissed.

Moreover, the SC's directive to set up a Trust to construct the Ram temple at the disputed site virtually ousts the VHP-backed Ram Janmsthan Nyas from temple construction activities.

"The dispute is over immovable property. The court does not decide title on the basis of faith or belief but on the basis of evidence," the judgement said, delivered at the end of a marathon 40-day hearing — the second-longest in the history of the apex court.

"The fact that there lay a temple beneath the destroyed structure has been established by the Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) and the underlying structure was not an Islamic structure."

"On the balance of probabilities, there is clear evidence to indicate that the worship by the Hindus in the outer courtyard" has continued unimpeded even before 1857 when the British annexed Oudh region. "The Muslims have offered no evidence to indicate that they were in exclusive possession" of the mosque before 1857, it said. "The faith of the Hindus that Lord Ram was born at the demolished structure is undisputed."

The court also went on to say that the Constitution must ensure that a wrong committed must be remedied.

"Justice would not prevail if the Court were to overlook the entitlement of the Muslims who have been deprived of the structure of the mosque through means which should not have been employed in a secular nation committed to the rule of law."

To remedy that wrong, the court asked the Centre to allot a five-acre plot in a "prominent" location in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh for constructing a new mosque. The disputed 2.77-acre plot will, for now, remain with a Central government receiver, who will hand it over to a government-created trust that must be set up within three months. The trust will be tasked with the construction of the temple.

The verdict in the politically-sensitive Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case was one of the most important and most anticipated judgements in India's history, the apex court bench that also comprised Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer said possession of the disputed 2.77 acre land rights will be handed over to the deity Ram Lalla.

There were no reports of violence or unrest from Ayodhya, where a massive police force was deployed, or any other part of the country.

The verdict was pronounced on 14 appeals filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and 'Ram Lalla'.

The bench said the high court wrongly decided the title suit by resorting to the partitioning of the disputed land in three parts.

"The disputed site was government land in the revenue records," the court said.

The judgement running into 1,045 pages was widely welcomed by Hindu politicians and groups, while the Muslim leaders said they will accept the verdict, even though they described it as flawed. Still, they called for peace and calm, and leaders across the political spectrum noted that it was now time to move on.

Relief appeared to be the overwhelming emotion in Ayodhya as its residents said the verdict has heralded a new dawn and brought closure to a lingering dispute.

C S Vaidyanathan, lawyer for deity 'Ram Lalla', said the verdict is very balanced and it is a victory of people.

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, one of the main litigants, welcomed the Supreme Court verdict and said it has no plans to challenge it. with Agencies input