The apex court also ordered the Central Government to formulate a scheme within three months to implement the court order.
A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi delivered its judgment in the cross-appeals filed by the Hindu and Muslim sides challenging the three-way partition of the disputed 2.77 acres of Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land .
The court said, Hindus consider this place as the birthplace of Lord Ram and even Muslims say this about the disputed place. It also observed that the mosque was not built on vacant land. It added that terming the archaeological evidence as merely an opinion would be a great disservice to the Archaeological Survey of India, ASI.
The court further stated that ASI has not established whether a temple was demolished to build the mosque. It also pointed out that the underlying structure was not an Islamic structure. The bench said that the fact that there lay a temple beneath the destroyed structure has been established by ASI. It said evidence suggests that Muslims offered Friday prayers at the mosque which indicates they have not lost possession.
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.
Prasanta Patnaik