Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Files Plea in SC Seeking Review of Ayodhya Land Verdict

New Delhi: A petition seeking review of the Supreme Court's November 9 judgement on Ayodhya land dispute by which the entire 2.77 acre land was granted to deity Ram Lalla was filed in the apex court on Monday.

Maulana Syed Ashhad Rashidi, legal heir of original litigant M Siddiq, has filed the review plea saying that the judgment suffers from "errors apparent on record and warrants a review under Article 137 of the Constitution of India".

The review petition said the apex court in an attempt to balance the reliefs between the parties, condoned illegalities of the Hindu parties and allotted alternate land measuring 5 acres to the Muslim parties, which was neither pleaded nor prayed for by the Muslim parties.

Rashidi is president of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind.

In the petition, he said it must be noted that the review petitioner is not challenging the entire judgment.

Earlier, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind’s chief Maulana Arshad Madani claimed that a majority of Muslims wanted the review petition to be filed and the number of those in the community who are against it was very few.

"The court has given us this right and the review must be filed," Madani told PTI.

On November 14, the working committee of the Jamiat had formed a five-member panel comprising legal experts and religious scholars to look into every aspect of the Supreme Court's November 9 verdict.

The panel, under the chairmanship of Madani, had looked into the prospects of the review petition against the apex court verdict and recommended that the plea should be filed in the case.

The Supreme Court in its verdict had said the entire 2.77 acres of disputed land should be handed over to the deity Ram Lalla, who was one of the three litigants. The five-judge Constitution bench also directed the Centre to allot a five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board in Ayodhya to build a mosque.

Apart from the Jamiat, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has also said a review petition will be filed before December 9.

However, the Sunni Central Waqf Board has decided against filing a review plea. The Waqf board also said that it was yet to take a call on whether to accept a five-acre plot for a mosque.

Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Sunday hit out at the AIMPLB and the Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind for their decision to seek a review of the Ayodhya verdict, saying they were trying to create an "atmosphere of division and confrontation" after the matter was laid to rest by the apex court.

Meanhwile, Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) lawmaker Afzal Ansari has said nobody should have any objection to the Supreme Court's unanimous verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute.

"It was a unanimous decision of five judges... It should be respected," he said, adding that this was his “personal view.”