Muslim party seeks review of Ayodhya verdict, says Babri be rebuilt for complete justice

NEW DELHI: A prominent Muslim body, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a review of its ruling on the Ayodhya dispute, the first such plea since November 9 when a five-judge bench of the court ordered that the entire 2.77 acre of disputed land on which the Babri Masjid once stood as well as the land adjoining it be handed over for construction of a Ram temple.
The petition — filed through Maulana Syed Ashhad Rashidi, the legal heir of the original plaintiff in the case — argued that the court had effectively granted a mandamus (judicial writ) to destroy the Babri Masjid and sought an immediate stay on the handover of the land.

There can be ‘no peace without justice’, the petition said, demanding to know whether a court can order ‘destruction’ of Babri Masjid to ‘construct a temple of Lord Ram’ in its place despite acknowledging several ‘illegalities’ committed by the Hindu parties.

“Had the Babri Masjid not been illegally demolished on December 6, 1992, execution of the order would have required destruction of an existing mosque to make space for a proposed temple… This court committed an error apparent by not awarding the disputed site to Muslim parties despite noting that the claim of Hindu parties were based on three outlining illegalities,” the petition said.

It specifically referred to the damage done to the domes of the Babri Masjid in 1934, the 1949 desecration of the mosque and the 1992 demolition of the structure — all of which were acknowledged by the court.

“This court has disregarded a settled legal principle… by lending its aid to a party which based its cause of action upon an illegal act.”

The petition also sought to know whether the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report could be relied upon when it has not noted that any structure was destroyed for building the mosque. The court had in an attempt to balance the reliefs between the parties, while condoning illegalities of the Hindu parties, allotted alternate land measuring 5 acre to the Muslim parties as reparation for the desecration and subsequent damage to the Babri Masjid so that they could build another mosque, despite them not asking for it, the petition said.

The petitioner claimed it was conscious of the sensitive nature of the issue and understood the need to put a ‘quietus’ to it to maintain peace and harmony in the country but added that there can be no peace without justice.