Shia Board claims Ayodhya pact ready; Sunni Board says it has no legal value

LUCKNOW/ALLAHABAD: The Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad and UP Shia Central Waqf Board on Monday claimed that they had worked out a mutually agreeable out-of-court settlement to the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya and would submit it to the Supreme Court soon. The SC is all set to commence the final hearing in the dispute from December 5. However, Zafaryab Jilani, counsel for UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, one of the parties in the title suit pending before the apex court, said the so-called agreement had no legal value.

LUCKNOW/ALLAHABAD : The Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad and UP Shia Central Waqf Board on Monday claimed that they had worked out a mutually agreeable out-of-court settlement to the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya and would submit it to the Supreme Court soon.

The Supreme Court is all set to commence the final hearing in the dispute from December 5.

However, Zafaryab Jilani, counsel for UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, one of the parties in the title suit pending before the apex court, said the so-called agreement had no legal value. “The Shia Waqf Board was given no share in the property by the Allahabad High Court in its 2010 judgement (now pending before SC). It’s all media hype, the talks have no meaning,” he said.

But Rizvi claimed that a negotiated settlement was on the anvil. “It has been amicably decided that no new mosque will be built in Ayodhya or Faizabad. The Shia Waqf Board will identify a piece of land for the mosque in a Muslimdominated area and inform the government,” he said.

The parishad had objected to

the construction of a mosque in Ayodhya or Faizabad. This issue was resolved by UP Shia Waqf Board chief Rizvi during discussions with parishad president Narendra Giri.

Rizvi claimed that Sunni Waqf Board had lost the case of getting the disputed land registered in its name in several courts and now only the Shia Waqf Board had the right to the mosque.

Jilani, however, debunked the charge. “

The land in question is still registered with the Sunni Waqf Board. The gazette notification

was turned down by the High Court as the boundaries of the land were not clearly mentioned in the notification,” he said adding that the same had been rectified.

“If they (Shia Waqf Board) had a claim, they should have fought for it at the outset. But they never pleaded their case nor presented any evidence in the trial court nor in the high court. The affidavit (submitted by Rizvi) in Supreme Court has no relevance and that is why we have not even bothered to reply to it,” Zafaryab Jilani said.