The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court hearing Ayodhya cases on Tuesday sought to know from the Uttar Pradesh government whether it would agree to meet the expenditure likely to be incurred in case a commission is appointed for recording statement of witnesses for enabling it to decide the matter expeditiously. The court's observations came during the hearing on the Centre's petition seeking directives for holding day-to-day hearing of the Ayodhya cases for their expeditious disposal.

Counsel for the state government informed the court that he would speak to the officials concerned to know the government's stand on the matter and apprise it when it resumes hearing again on Tuesday.

Earlier, the counsels of the Sunni Central Waqf Board and Nirmohi Akhara, the plaintiffs in the Ayodhya cases, pleaded that the Centre had no locus standi in the matter as it was not a party to it. They submitted that the Centre's application was infructuous since the court had, on July 12 last year, already ordered holding of day-to-day hearing of the matter on the plea of the state government.

Briefing newsmen later, the SCWB counsel Zafaryab Jilani said, "We have pleaded before the court that it could reiterate its earlier order to which we have no objection". Special counsel for the Union government, Ravi Mehrotra, said the Centre had approached the court for ordering day-to-day hearing of the matter as it was the responsibility of the Centre to ensure expeditious disposal of the Ayodhya cases.

Mehrotra said the Centre did not want to become a party in the matter but had filed the petition in its capacity as "statutory receiver of the acquired land". Bureau Report