Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind not to file review petition against SC verdict in Ayodhya case

Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JuH) on Thursday (November 21) announced that it will not file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict in Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case. The JuH changed its stand just four days after it had announced its decision to file a review petition challenging the SC's order in Ayodhya case.

“The apex court accepted most of the arguments and evidence of the Muslim parties, but delivered the judgment against them in favour of Hindu parties,” JuH chief Maulana Arshad Madani had said in a statement.

Madani had said that the JuH had decided to file the review petition after holding extensive discussions with experts and lawyers regarding the verdict delivered by the apex court on November 9. The JuH had claimed that the SC ruling was against Muslim parties and it was not the final judgment.

In a unanimous verdict, an SC bench of five judges had paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed 2.27 acres of land site in Ayodhya and ruled that Sunni Waqf Board will get 5-acres of land at an alternative site for building a mosque. The apex court clarified that either the Central government can give the five-acre land to the Sunni Waqf Board from the nearly 68 acres of land which it had acquired in 1993 under the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act or the state government could hand over the piece of land at a "suitable prominent place in Ayodhya".

JuH chief Madani had said that the judgment was unacceptable to Muslims because as per Islamic law it is not allowed the shift the mosque. He had also said that accepting an alternative piece of land to build the mosque is absolutely out of question.

In a related development, the executive committee of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) announced on Sunday (November 21) that it will file a review petition against the SC verdict in Ayodhya land dispute case. 

Speaking on the board's decision, AIMPLB secretary Zafaryab Jilani had said, "SC's decision of allotting five-acre land to Muslims is not acceptable to us. According to Islamic law Shariyat, we cannot accept any other land to construct the mosque."