Zeenews Bureau
Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the
Allahabad High Court will pronounce its judgement on the 60-
year-old Ayodhya title suits on September 24, a decision that
may trigger a political fallout.
An announcement to that effect was communicated through notices issued by the registrar of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court here Wednesday afternoon.
The date for pronouncement of the judgement reserved by
a special full bench comprising Justices S.U Khan, Sudhir
Agarwal and D.V Sharma on July 26, was conveyed to the
counsels appearing in the four title suits relating to the
disputed site at Ayodhya.
The court will be addressing three issues. One, whether
there was a temple at the disputed site, prior to 1538. Two,
whether the suit filed by the Babri committee in 1961 is
barred by limitation. And third, whether Muslims perfected
their title through adverse possession.
The first title suit was filed in 1950 by one Gopal
Singh Visharad, seeking an injunction for permitting 'pooja'
(worship) of Lord Ram at the disputed site.
The second suit was filed by Paramhans Tamchandra Das
also in 1950 seeking the same injunction but this was later
withdrawn.
The third suit was filed in 1959 by Nirmohi Akhara,
seeking direction to hand over the charge of the disputed site
from the receiver.
The fourth suit was filed in the 1961 by UP Sunni
Central Board of Waqfs for declaration and possession of the
site. The fifth suit was moved on July one, 1989 in the name
of Bhagwan Shree Ram Lalla Virajman also for declaration and
possession.
With one of these suits having been withdrawn, four
title suits remained pending in the Faizabad civil court and
in 1989, on an application moved by then then Advocate General
of UP, these suits were transferred to the High Court.
Since then speculation was rife not only over the possible date of the judgment, but also over its religious and political fallout as the issue has been influencing the country's politics.
So far it was believed that the verdict would be pronounced Sept 17.
Both the Centre and the Mayawati Government have been
worried over the political fallout and the possibility of
communal tensions erupting in the wake of the court verdict.
At an iftar hosted by PM Manmohan Singh in Delhi, Home Minister P Chidambaram was asked
about the verdict slated for September 24.
"Wait for the verdict," he said.
Deployment of additional paramilitary forces in UP as
also in the communally sensitive areas in other parts of the
country is being considered.
While there will be heavy deployment of security personnel in and around the twin towns of Ayodhya and Faizabad, central forces would also be kept ready in all other communally sensitive cities and towns of the state, the country's most populous.
Besides Ayodhya-Faizabad, vigil will also be mounted ahead of the verdict in towns such as Varanasi, Mathura, Lucknow, Kanpur, Gonda, Bahraich, Allahabad, Aligarh, Moradabad and Meerut.
The Congress core committee had met here last Friday
to discuss a contingency plan and had taken stock of various
scenarios that may follow the crucial judgement.
The arguments
In its report to the Court, the Archaeological
Survey of India has pointed to the existence of a massive
structure just below the disputed site.
Among the excavation yields, the report has
mentioned stone and decorated bricks, mutilated sculpture of
divine couple, carved architectural members including foliage
patterns and circular shrine having pranjala (watershute), all
indicating the existence of north Indian temples.
The report concluded that it was over the top of
this construction during the early 16th century that Babri
Masjid was constructed.
But the Sunni Central Waqf Board has been
maintaining that the report is "vague and self-contradictory".
Whichever way the verdict goes, it may impact on one
segment or the other.
The High Court special bench had concluded hearing
of arguments on July 26 in which the two sides have been
making rival claims over the ownership of Ayodhya land.
The Ramjanmabhoomi Trust has held that the disputed
land was the birthplace of Lord Ram while Muslim organisations
contended that it was the site of a 16th century mosque built
by the first Mughal emperor Babur in Ayodhya, about 120 km
from Lucknow.
Rival claims by Hindu and Muslim groups to the disputed site led to the demolition of the 16th century Babri Masjid by Hindu mobs Dec 6, 1992, triggering widespread communal violence that left thousands dead across the country.
The issue polarised politics between those for and against the mosque at the site and left a legacy of distrust between the country's majority Hindus and Muslims, the country's largest minority.
-Agencies inputs
First Published: Thursday, September 09, 2010, 00:20