The confusion over the representation, or rather the lack thereof, for the Sunni Waqf Board in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid matter in the Supreme Court (SC), got some clarification on Thursday when senior advocate Kapil Sibal said that he appeared only for Mohammed Iqbal Ansari, son of late Mohammed Hashim — the original petitioner.
Speaking at a press conference, Sibal said that who he appeared for is not the national issue and said the main issue was Gujarat, hinting at BJP's campaign in the election-bound state.
Advocate MR Shamshad, the advocate on record in the matter, supported Sibal and further clarified that the senior advocate's name against the board in the appearance slip, or in the first part of the record of proceedings, could be a 'clerical error'.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided to hear the 13 civil appeals filed by various parties, challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute on February 8, 2018.
In doing so, the bench refused to be swayed by Sibal's plea that the matter be heard by the top court after the 2019 general elections. Sibal told the bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, and Justices Ashok Bhushan and SA Najeeb that he was making this request because "there will be serious repercussions" after the court's ruling.
Sibal's submissions on Tuesday in the top court kicked up a storm as the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board distanced itself from his remarks and submitted that they favoured an early hearing in the matter.
While addressing an election rally in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Sunni Waqf Board for dissociating itself from Sibal's statement on Ayodhya, and lashed out at the lawyer for politicising a sensitive issue.
The controversial structure known as Babri Masjid was razed to the ground by Karsevaks on December 6, 1992.
The court is hearing 13 appeals against a 2010 judgement by Allahabad High Court on four civil suits filed over the title of the land that is known to Hindus as the "Ram Janmabhoomi", or the land where Hindu God Ram was born.
A three-judge Bench of the Allahabad High Court, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had ordered the partition of the land equally among three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the deity, Ram Lalla.
SEEKING DEFERMENT
- Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to hear the 13 civil appeals challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court order on the Ram janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute on February 8, 2018
- Kapil Sibal pleaded to the top court that the matter be heard after the 2019 general elections.
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