By TCN Staff Writer,
New Delhi: Countdown has begun for the verdict in the 60-year-old title suit of Babri Masjid/Ram Janambhoomi with the Lucknow Special Bench of Allahabad High Court setting September 30 for pronouncement of the judgment after getting go-ahead signal from the Supreme Court today.
The Lucknow court took the decision about half an hour after the Supreme Court today rejected the plea for deferment of the verdict which was originally to be announced on September 24.
[Photo by The Hindu]
The date of verdict has been fixed 30 September because Justice Dharam Veer Sharma, who is one of the three judges of Special Bench of the Allahabad High Court which will deliver the verdict, is retiring on October 1.
Today at 2:00 PM a three-judge special bench comprising of Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia, Justice Aftab Alam and Justice KS Radhakrishnan lifted the interim stay order on the case and announced that Allahabad High Court Bench could go ahead with the pronouncement of judgment.
The verdict was scheduled to be announced by the special Bench on September 24 but Supreme Court stayed the verdict on 23 Sep while acting on the deferment plea filed by Ramesh Chandra Tripathi who appealed for deferment of the verdict hoping an out-of-court settlement.
Muslim groups welcome SC decision
Muslim groups have welcomed the Supreme Court decision to allow the Allahabad High Court to deliver its verdict on the Ayodhya dispute.
The Darul Uloom Deoband, one of the country’s leading Muslim seminaries based in Uttar Pradesh, told IANS that any delay in pronouncing the verdict would have “only vitiated communal peace and harmony and generated an atmosphere of mistrust”.
“The issue has lingered on for the last sixty years… it is time the matter is sorted out,” said Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi, a teacher at the seminary.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) also reacted similarly. Welcoming the apex court decision, board member and legal convenor Zafaryab Jilani said: “We are hopeful that the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court will be able to deliver the judgment”
Cong, BJP welcome SC ruling
Meanwhile, Congress and BJP have also welcomed the Supreme Court order.
“I welcome the decision on behalf of the party. The party has always maintained that the solution to the dispute should be found through talks or the decision of the court should be respected. Everyone should wait for the judgement of the high court,” Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.
“Everybody should abide by the verdict of the court,” he said, adding that the parties to the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi title suit case can move the Supreme Court after the high court verdict.
BJP has also welcomed the apex court order. “We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court paving the way for the Allahabad High Court to give its judgment,” BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.
States put on high alert
Soon after SC cleared way for the Babri verdict, the central government told all states, especially Uttar Pradesh where the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit is being heard, to be on high alert.
In its latest advisory, the central government has asked states to strictly enforce security measures in sensitive locations. Local administrations have been asked to activate peace committees of Hindus and Muslims.
Large number of police and security personnel have been deployed in sensitive places across the country for the past 10 days, as the high court judgment was initially expected Sep 24.
Nearly 170,000 security personnel — 160,000 state policemen and 10,000 central forces men — have taken position in Uttar Pradesh.
The suit relates to a disputed site which the Hindu groups claim to be the birthplace of Lord Ram. On Dec 6, 1992, radical Hindu activists destroyed Babri Masjid, a mosque on the site, alleging it was built in 1528 after razing a temple there.