Ayodhya Land Dispute Case: Apex Court Allows Temple Construction in Disputed Land; Alternate Plot of 5 Acres for Mosque [Read Judgment]

By: Syed Ali Taher Abedi

In a historical Verdict Apex Court on Saturday held that the entire disputed land of 2.77 Acres in Ayodhya must be handed over for the construction of Ram Mandir.

The five judge bench of the Supreme Court has pronounced the judgment today.

The Court has held that the disputed land of 2.77 acres in Ayodhya must be handed over for the construction of Ram Mandir.It is further held that an alternate 5-Acre plot must be allotted to the Sunni Waqf Board for construction of mosque.

The Court also directed the center to come up with a scheme envisaging the setting up of a trust. The possession of inner and outer courtyard of disputed structure has been given to this trust. The scheme should provide for construction of a temple at the disputed site, the Court observed.

It was further noted that the evidence from Archeological Society of India (ASI) report to conclude that the Babri Masjid was not constructed on a vacant land.

However the Court clarified that the rights of Ram Lalla to the disputed property is subject to maintenance of Law and Order and communal harmony.

The verdict was read out by CJI Gogoi for half an hour.

Another finding of the Court was that here was clear evidence to show that Hindus worshiped in the outer courtyard of the disputed site. Ass regard to the inner court yard there was no evidence by the Muslims to show exclusive possession by them prior to 1857, the bench noted.

The Court observed that the destruction of Babri mosque in 1992 was violation of law.

Read the Judgment here.