Status quo at Ayodhaya disputed site extended till August 31

The Allahabad high court today extended the status quo at the disputed site at Ayodhaya till August 31.

The Lucknow bench also directed its office to finalise the decree of the judgment pronounced on September 30 last year while disposing off the objections filed by various parties in the case.

According to HS Jain, counsel of Hindu Mahasabha -one of the parties in the case, special full bench comprising Justice SU Khan, Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice Virendra Kumar Dixit clarified that since the three judge bench in September had pronounced separate judgments, the majority opinion shall be taken into account while finalising the decree.

The court also permitted commissioner Faizabad, who is also the receiver of the disputed site at Ayodhaya, to change the tarpaulin, polythene sheets and ropes of the makeshift structure. The commissioner had earlier moved an application in this regard, Jain said.

On an application moved on the behalf of one of the parties, the court allowed to prepare a list of the books -both religious and historical - cited during the hearing of the case for safekeeping as evidence.

The next sitting of the bench would take place on May 20, he added.

The status quo at the disputed site, extended in phases since the pronouncement of the verdict on the title suits, was to end on May 31.