Cabinet appeals for peace ahead of Babri verdict
A week before the judgment in Ramjanmabhoomi — Babri Masjid title suit, the Cabinet on Thursday appealed to parties involved and the public to maintain calm, “as the high court’s judgment is only one step in the judicial process”.
A week before the judgment in Ramjanmabhoomi — Babri Masjid title suit, the Cabinet on Thursday appealed to parties involved and the public to maintain calm, “as the high court’s judgment is only one step in the judicial process”.
On September 24, a Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court delivers its verdict to settle the title of the disputed land.
The government, which is on the tenterhooks over the developing situation in the run-up to the verdict added the issue “need not necessarily end with this judgment unless it is accepted by all parties”.
“The judgment, an outcome of a long judicial process, needs to be treated with the utmost respect. At same time, the judgment, at this stage, is one step in the judicial process. The issues need not necessarily end with this judgment unless all parties accept it,” I&B Minister Ambika Soni read from the Cabinet resolution. There are legal remedies available which could be resorted to, she said.
Even as it deferred its verdict to September 24, the bench called the parties involved in the case on September 17 (on Friday) to reach an amicable solution. But there are objections to such a solution.
“We rejected the proposal and requested the Court to deliver its verdict on the given date. Our position will be the same in court tomorrow,” Zafaryab Jilani, counsel for Sunni Waqf Board — one of the parties — said.
Though several Muslim bodies asked the community to respect the verdict and RSS chief on Wednesday stated they would chart legal recourse in case of opposed verdict, the Centre is gauging the situation with caution.
More than one lakh police personnel have been deployed in Uttar Pradesh and the Centre has sent around 40 companies of paramilitary personnel to the state.