Twenty-five years on, SC to commence final hearing on Babri case from December 5
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New Delhi: On the occasion when a quarter of a century passes since the demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December, the final hearing of the case regarding the ownership of the disputed land is set to take place in Supreme Court.
The mosque was demolished on 6 December 1992, but the hearing is scheduled to be held on 5 December, a day before the 25th anniversary.
In 2010, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court had decreed that the 2.77 acre plot of land on which the mosque stood should be equally divided among the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. There are 13 appeals pending against this verdict.
The time allowed to the clients to submit the English version of their evidence in support of their claims ended last Saturday. The historical evidences consisting of 256 documents and running to thousands of pages are in Urdu, Arabic, Hindi and Persian.
From 1996 to 2007 there have been statements from depositions of 86 witnesses. The English translation of each side will be handed to the opposing side for comparison.
Meanwhile the UP Shia Waqf Board has approached the Supreme Court to implead itself.
The Board's contention is that the demolished mosque was a Shia masjid, and last August it had filed an affidavit putting forward this contention. But the Sunni Waqf contests this argument saying that in the verdict of the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court, Shia Waqf Board had not been granted any share and any mediation or agreement entered into by the Shia Waqf Board has no validity.
