Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid row: SC asks Allahabad High Court to appoint two new observers

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court to appoint new judicial officers as observers in the Ayodhya land dispute matter within 10 days.

On August 11, the apex court had said that it will take up the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case again on December 5, which also happens to be the eve of the Babri Masjid demolition’s 25th anniversary. The court was hearing 13 petitions challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict in the case.

The high court had said that the land should be divided equally among three parties – the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.



However, on August 8, the Uttar Pradesh’ Shia Waqf Board had sought to be a party in the case. It told the Supreme Court that a mosque can be built in a Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the disputed site. “If the Ram temple and mosque co-exist, it will lead to conflicts,” the board told the bench.

The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case

The row over the ownership of the 2.7 acres of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land has raged on for decades. On December 6, 1992, Hindu volunteers gathered at the site had demolished the mosque. The incident had triggered communal riots across the country.