Babri Mosque case: Indian Court allots Ayodhya land to Hindus

NEW DELHI:  The Supreme Court of India has ruled the verdict in the Babri Mosque case that Hindus would get Ayodhya land and Muslims will be allotted an alternate piece of land.

The verdict on the long-running the Babri Mosque dispute was announced by a five-member bench of the Indian Supreme court headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

The bench also comprised of Justices S. A. Bobde, D. Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S. Abdul Nazeer.

The bench in its verdict stated that there was enough material to prove that the Babri Masjid was not constructed on vacant land. There was a structure there and it was not an Islamic structure.

Ahead of the verdict announcement, security agencies were placed on high alert and the government has sent thousands of police and para-military forces to Ayodhya.

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The Supreme Court bench declared the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 as a violation of the law. Title over land cannot be decided on the basis of faith and belief, but as per law, the court added.

Hindu extremists destroyed the historic mosque in 1992 triggering massive riots in India. The violence left tens of hundreds of people dead.

For over a century, Hindus and Muslims have been in a tussle over the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Hindus claim the mosque was the birthplace of Lord Ram and was built after the destruction of a temple by Muslim invader Babur in 1528.

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On the other hand, Muslims say they offered prayers at the mosque until December 1949, when some idols of Lord Ram were placed in the mosque.