Efforts begin for out-of-court settlement of Ayodhya issue

Judges of the Allahabad High Court's Special Bench meet counsel for both parties

Having reserved its judgment on the title suit of the disputed Ayodhya complex after hearing the contending parties, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court has initiated efforts for an out-of-court settlement of the 60-year-old dispute.

Exercising its power under Section 89 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Special Bench of Justices S.U. Khan, Sudhir Agarwal and Dharamveer Sharma met counsel for both sides separately in their chambers on Tuesday.

The court reserved its judgment on July 26. The verdict is likely to be delivered in September.

The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhumi dispute has been pending since 1950. What was primarily a local issue assumed political connotations in the 1980s when the organisations affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh launched an agitation for the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya.

Earlier too, attempts were made to settle the dispute outside court. In 1991, when Chandra Shekhar formed a government at the Centre, with the support of the Congress, the first formal initiative was made. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Babri Masjid Action Committee handed in documents in support of their claims. But the initiative withered after the Chandra Shekhar government fell.

Another attempt was made in 1992 when the Congress was in power, with P.V. Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister. But the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, turned the clock back.

According to Zafaryab Jilani, counsel for the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Board of Waqfs, one of the parties involved in the dispute, informal attempts were also made for settling the issue in 1986 and 2002. “These involved the Jagadguru Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam and the president of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, but there was no headway,” said Mr. Jilani, who also serves as the legal adviser of the Law Board.

The Kanchi Shankaracharya met Muslim Personal Law Board chairman Maulana Syed Rabey Hasni Nadwi at the Darul Uloom Nadwadul Ulema here on June 7, 2003. Their meeting lasted 90 minutes. Apart from inquiring about the Maulana's health, the Kanchi seer discussed the possibility of an out-of-court settlement. An exchange of letters followed, but that was all.