Muslim parties will be given alternate land while a trust to be formed by the central government will monitor the construction of a Hindu temple, the Supreme Court has ruled in a unanimous verdict on the decades-old Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid title dispute. A suitable plot of land measuring 5 acre shall be given to Sunni Waqf Board, it said. It said that the Archeological Survey of India report on the underlying structure can’t be dismissed and that Babri Masjid wasn’t constructed on vacant land. It adds that the underlying structure was not of Islamic religion, but ASI report hasn’t said the underlying structure was a specific temple. The Shia Waqf Board’s claim on the Babri Masjid has been unanimously dismissed and the Nirmohi Akhara has also suffered a setback. The bench ruled that the Nirmohi Akhara suit is barred by limitations and said the Akhara isn’t a shebait.
The Ayodhya title suit verdict comes nine years after the 2:1 judgment of the Allahabad High Court that ordered a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acres of land between the three parties — Ram Lalla, Sunni Waqf Board and the Nirmohi Akhara. The Lucknow Bench of the High Court, on September 30, 2010, held that Hindus and Muslims as joint title holders of the disputed land. Trust to be set up within 3 months, this trust will take over the management of the construction of the temple.
