In an unprecedented move, the Hindu Mahasabha confirmed that it will be filing a review petition in the Supreme Court against the apex court's verdict to allocate an alternative 5-acre plot to the Muslim side to build a mosque in the Ayodhya case. "We will file a review petition today (Monday) challenging the SC decision of granting 5 acres of land to the Muslim side in another site at Ayodhya or anywhere the board finds it suitable, in the Ayodhya Babri Masjid land dispute case," said Hindu Mahasabha lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain. This will be the first review petition from the Hindu side.
The years-long Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomi dispute was settled after a five-judge bench, headed by the then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, on November 9 delivered the verdict. The unanimous verdict had decreed the entire 2.77 acre disputed land in favour of deity 'Ram Lalla' and also directed the Centre to allot a 5-acre plot to Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque in Ayodhya.
It is this 5-acre provision that the Hindu Mahasabha has questioned in the review petition. Since the Supreme Court had said in its ruling that both the inside and outside courtyard of the disputed site in Ayodhya belongs to the Hindus, there is no reason for the court to allot a 5-acre plot to the Muslims, the review petition explains.
Hindu Mahasabha'a review petition comes close on heels with the demand from the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) that the Sunni Waqf Board be allotted land outside the municipal limits of Ayodhya for construction of a mosque.
The Hindu Mahasabha's will be the seventh petition in the case. Six petitions, all from Muslim side, were filed in the Supreme Court seeking review of its November 9 judgment. While five pleas have been filed by Maulana Mufti Hasbullah, Moulana Mahfoozur Rehman, Mishbahuddin, Mohd Umar and Haji Nahboob, who are all supported by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the sixth one has been filed by Mohammad Ayub.
