NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today declined to refer the question that “a mosque as a place of prayer is an essential part of Islam” to a Constitution bench.
The crucial verdict also paved the way for holding the hearing on title suit on October 29.The verdict ended with 2:1 majority.
The Supreme Court has refused to revisit its 1994 ruling that the government can acquire land that a mosque is built on.In 1994, the Supreme Court said that namaz could be offered anywhere and that a mosque was not necessary.
In the Ismail Farooqui judgement, the court had ruled then that namaz or prayers can be offered anywhere and a mosque is not essential.
A 3-Judge bench of Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer pronounced their decision on whether namaz or prayers can be offered anywhere or a mosque is an essential part of the practice of Islam and is needed for the congregation and to pray.
While reading out the judgment he wrote along with Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice Ashok Bhushan said that the Ayodhya case need not be referred to a larger bench, and that the three-judge bench, which also includes Justice S Abdul Nazeer, will continue to hear the case.
In his joint judgment with CJI Misra, Bhushan said on Sept. 27 that the present case would be decided on its own facts, and that the Ismail Faruqui judgement would have no impact on it.
The dispute is about a plot of land measuring 2.77 acres in the city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, which houses the Babri mosque and Ram Janmabhoomi.
This particular piece of land is considered sacred among Hindus as it is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Ram, one of the most revered deities of the religion.
Muslims argue that the land houses the Babri mosque, where they had offered prayers for years before the dispute.Muslims, on the other hand, say that the mosque is their sacred religious place – built by Mir Baqi in 1528.
Determined to build a Hindu temple by replacing the mosque, thousands of kar sevaks (religious volunteers) descended upon the mosque in December 1992 and tore it down.
Muslim litigants had filed for reconsideration of the judgement after the Allahabad High Court in 2010 ordered that the disputed site be divided into three parts.
The three parts included one for deity (Ramlala Virajmaan), another for Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu sect and third for Muslims.
