Ayodhya dispute: Supreme Court says High Court order on partition was ‘strange

By Rizwan Khatik - Mon May 09, 8:04 am

New Delhi:  The Supreme Court has stayed the Allahabad High Court’s verdict on the Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute.

Various groups have challenged the high court’s order, delivered in September last year. The High Court accepted that the site was the birthplace of Lord Ram. The three-judge bench ruled in a majority judgment 2:1 that the disputed land be divided  with one-third for the Sunni Waqf Board, one-third for the Nirmohi Akhara and one-third to the party for ‘Ram Lalla’.

The Supreme Court said today, “This is very strange and surprising.  Nobody has prayed for partition of the area. The Allahabad High Court has given a new relief which was not sought by anybody.

The Supreme Court has directed that status quo be maintained and also directed that no religious activity be performed on the 67-acre area adjacent to the disputed site.

All major parties in the dispute had challenged the High Court verdict, seeking exclusive rights over the entire land.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, a BJP leader who represents one of the Hindu litigant groups, said that he agreed with the Supreme Court.

Stressing that he was not speaking as a politician but as a lawyer, Mr Prasad said he agreed with the Supreme Court that partitioning the land was not the solution that the petitioners were looking for.

Zafaryab Jilani of the Babri Masjid Action Committee also welcomed the order.
No date has been set yet for the court to hear the matter next. The Supreme Court closes for the summer in a week’s time. The

Supreme Court’s order is seen as procedural as the High Court had itself stayed its own order last year – first for three months and it then extended the stay since it was a very sensitive matter.