Shortly after the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) announced its decision to file a review petition against the Supreme Court's verdict in Ayodhya land dispute case, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) working president Alok Kumar on Sunday said that the VHP will prefer not to comment on AIMPLB's decision.
Kumar told Zee News that AIMPLB is not a party to the litigation in Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title case and the main petitioner, in this case, has already accepted the judgement delivered by the SC on November 9, 2019. The VHP leader stressed that statements by the third parties on Ayodhya title case make no stand
Referring to the SC judgment, Kumar said that there is no problem with the verdict delivered by the apex court and it was unanimously signed by all five judges in the SC bench.
"This is unfortunate, it would have been better if the judgement would have been accepted with dignity. I don't see the review of the petition successfully. The decision given by the SC is final. They have lost the fight and only shadow boxing is going on," said Kumar.
Earlier on Sunday (November 17), AIMPLB secretary Zafaryab Jilani said that the SC's decision of allotting five-acre land to Muslims is not acceptable to us. According to Islamic law, Muslims cannot accept any other land to construct the mosque.
In a unanimous verdict on November 9, the apex court paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed 2.27 acres of land site in Ayodhya and ruled that Sunni Waqf Board will get 5-acres of land at an alternative site for building a mosque. The apex court clarified that either the Central government can give the five-acre land to the Sunni Waqf Board from the nearly 68 acres of land which it had acquired in 1993 under the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act or the state government could hand over the piece of land at a "suitable prominent place in Ayodhya".
The bench, headed by Ranjan Gogoi gave the Centre three months to set up a trust for the same. The Sunni Waqf Board, one of the litigants in the Ayodhya title dispute case, has said that a final decision on accepting the offer of the plot will be taken later.
Muslim stakeholders in the Ayodhya case have been sharply divided on the issue of going in for a review petition after the apex court verdict gave the entire disputed land for temple construction and said that Muslims would be given five acres of land 'elsewhere' in Ayodhya.
The Chairman of the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board Zufar Faruqi has said that he is not in the favour of filing a review petition in the case. However, All India Babri Masjid Action Committee (AIBMAC) convener Zafaryab Jilani, expressed his dissatisfaction with the verdict and said he would study the judgment and then file a review petition.
