The Hindu Mahasabha on Monday said it will file a review petition challenging the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict, ANI reported.
Lawyer for the right-wing outfit, Vishnu Jain, said they will challenge the top court’s decision to allocate a five-acre plot elsewhere in Ayodhya for the construction of a new mosque.
On November 9, the top court’s five-judge Constitution bench had asked the Centre to set up a trust within three months to oversee the construction of a Ram temple at the site in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood till 1992.
This will be the first review petition from the Hindu side. So far, six review petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court. On December 2, the first review petition in the case was filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and five other petitions were filed on Friday with the support of All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
The petition said since it was an undisputed fact that Muslims were praying at the site till December 16, 1949, and had entered the mosque through the outer courtyard, Hindus had never been in exclusive possession of the site. “The court erred in not considering that there was a dedication of the mosque which was self-evident from the inscriptions,” it said, adding that “the judgment erred in holding that the Waqf was not established by ‘user’ though continuous possession and prayer were shown at all times”.
One of the review petitions said that despite acknowledging several illegalities committed by the Hindu parties, including the destruction of the mosque at the disputed site, the top court had condoned them and granted the land to them.
The Sunni Waqf Board, which was one of the major litigants in the dispute, has decided against a review.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!