Ayodhya Case : Muslim Parties Deny Reports Of Settlement & Withdrawal Of Claim [Read Statement]

Denying the reports that Muslim parties have settled the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid case by giving up their claim over the disputed land,  the Muslim parties have filed a statement in the Supreme Court

On the final day of hearing of the case, there were reports that Muslim parties have withdrawn their appeal. Quoting Advocate Shahid Rizvi, lawyer of the Sunni Waqf Board, it was reported that a compromise has been arrived in the matter.

These reports have been denied as baseless by the statement filed through Advocate Ejaz Maqbool.

"We are taken aback by the media reports attributed by Mr Shahid Rizvi, Advocate on record that U.P. Sunni Central Waqf Board was willing to withdraw the claim on site of the Babri Masjid"(sic), the statement said.

This news was "obviously leaked out" either by the Mediation Committee or Nirvani Akhara which claim the right on the Mosque or others, added the statement.

It was clarified that only limited persons attended the mediation which were Dharma Das of Nirvani Akhara, Mr. Zufar Faruqui of Sunni Central Waqf Board and Mr. Chakrapani of Hindu Maha Sabha and mediation was difficult in the circumstances when the parties had openly stated that they were not open to settlement. 

In this background, the statement declared as follows :

a) The recent attempts before Mediation Committee were not representative.

b) That the leak to the press may have been inspired by either Mediation Committee directly or those who participated in the said mediation proceedings or participants. (It needs emphasis that such a leak was in total violation of the orders of the Supreme court that had directed that such proceedings should remain confidential).

c) The timing of the leak to the press and its confirmation by Mr. Rizvi on 17 th October 2019 on the very date when the hearing closed seems to have been well thought out. Mr. Panchu was also in the premises of the Supreme Court on 16th of October and was communicating in the premises to Mr. Zafar Faruqui.

The statement concluded by saying :

"Accordingly, we must make it absolutely clear that we the appellants before Supreme Court do not accept the proposal made which has been leaked out to the Press, nor the  procedure by which the mediation has taken place nor the manner in which a withdrawal of the claim has been suggested as a compromise."

Click here to download statement

[Read Statement]