Bringing down curtains on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, one of the longest running title disputes in India, the Supreme Court has given the entire disputed 2.77-acre land to the Hindu parties with a trust to be formed by the Centre within three months to monitor the construction of a Ram Temple. The Sunni Waqf Board will be given 5 acres of alternate land, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled in the unanimous verdict.
The five-judge bench concluded hearing the land dispute after a marathon 40 days of arguments and reserved the judgment on November 9. The Constitution bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi put an end to the more than a century old dispute that had been in courts for 70 years. The court heard appeals and cross appeals filed by the Sunni Central Wakf Board and the Hindu side against a 2010 Allahabad High Court ruling that had partitioned the land among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
The SC bench settled the Hindu-Muslim dispute through a unanimous verdict and handed over the disputed land for construction of a Ram temple. It also allocated five acres at a “prominent place” in Ayodhya for a mosque. The bench said the verdict weighed in favour of deity Ram Lalla because the Hindu parties could produce better evidence to substantiate their right over the disputed land. However, the bench was also unanimous that the Muslim parties too had established a competitive right over a part of the disputed land. Hence, it used its inherent powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to direct the Centre/UP government to allot five acres of land at a prominent place in Ayodhya for construction of a mosque. The bench ordered framing of a scheme and its implementation through a trust, to be set up by the Centre, within three months for the construction of the temple and its management.
The bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, CJI-designate Sharad Arvind Bobde and Justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer took just 23 days to author a common judgment running into 929 pages. The bench had reserved its verdict on October 16 and delivered it on November 9. CJI Gogoi read out a 26-page summary of the judgment for close to 40 minutes in a packed courtroom. “Jai Shriram” chants from advocates in black robes echoed immediately after the pronouncement of judgment, inserting a discordant note to the otherwise smooth process.
The SC set aside the September 30, 2010, verdict of the Allahabad high court, which had divided the disputed area of 1,487 square yards, included the disputed 2.77 acres of plot, into three equal parts and allotted one part each to Ram Lalla (the area under the central dome of the demolished mosque), Nirmohi Akhara (outer courtyard including Ram Chabutra and Sita Rasoi) and the rest to Sunni Waqf Board. Nirmohi Akhara became the biggest loser on the day as the SC dismissed its 1959 suit staking claim to the site as time barred and refused to even recognise its right as a ‘shebait’ (priest), thus robbing it of any major role in the to-be-constructed temple. The apex court ordered that it would get “appropriate representation” on the trust, but that would be like a participation certificate, with the court leaving it to the Centre to determine what would constitute “appropriate representation.”
The directive that construction of the temple be assigned to a trust to be set up by the Centre comes at the cost of Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, which was set up by the VHP in 1985 to construct and manage the proposed Ram temple. However, the Sangh Parivar constituent, which spearheaded the temple movement, should still get to play a key role in the matter, considering that the court has given the Centre a decisive say in determining the composition of the proposed trust. The verdict was celebrated by temple votaries. Those arrayed on the opposite side were, obviously, not satisfied, but there were signs suggesting an acquiescence, if grudging, into the outcome: something that raised the prospect of an awkward closure of the vexed mandir versus mosque question that has left an indelible imprint on politics and society.
Political parties also restrained their impulse. BJP and Sangh Parivar, starting from PM Narendra Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and BJP chief Amit Shah, exercised restraint. Political parties and other outfits, who had opposed the mandir campaign, also calibrated their reaction to suit the need for peace. However, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said the Supreme Court judgment on the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi land dispute is a “victory of faith over facts” and suggested rejection of the alternative five-acre plot given for construction of a mosque. Owaisi said the Muslim side was fighting for legal rights and does not need charity from anyone.
