The plea filed by the Union government has said that the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas (a trust to promote construction of Ram Temple) had sought return of excess land acquired in 1991 to original owners. Earlier, the apex court had ordered that the status quo be maintained with regard to the acquired 67 acre of land around the disputed site. The central government in 1991 had acquired 67 acre land around the disputed site.
It is notable that fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court till date against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgement, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land be partitioned equally among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
The Supreme Court had on Sunday cancelled the hearing scheduled for Tuesday in the title dispute case due to non-availability of Justice S A Bobde, one of the five judges of the Constitution bench.
The Centre pointed out in its application that the Supreme Court’s judgment in Dr M Ismail Faruqui and Ors Vs Union of India (October 24, 1994), which upheld the Constitutional validity of the Acquisition of Certain Areas of Ayodhya Act, 1993, under which the 67.703 acres were acquired, had also established that the “interest claimed by the Muslims was only over the disputed site of 0.313 acres where the disputed structure stood before its demolition”.
In June 1996, the Nyas had asked the government to return the excess land, but this request was denied “on the ground that… (it) can be considered only after the suits relating to the disputed area are adjudicated by the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court…”.
In Mohd Aslam @ Bhure vs Union Of India And Ors (March 31, 2003) the court had, “in clear, categorical terms held that the status quo has to be maintained only until the suits pending before the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court are disposed of”, the government said.
The Allahabad High Court delivered its judgment on September 30, 2010. It divided the disputed 2.77 acres of land, including the spot where the Babri Masjid stood until December 6, 1992, and the area surrounding it, equally among the Nirmohi Akhara, the Sunni Central Wakf Board, UP, and Ramlalla Virajman.
On Tuesday, the Centre asked the Supreme Court to let it “restore/revert/hand over back the superfluous/excess land” without linking this process “with the outcome of the… civil appeals” — this was because issues concerning the excess land acquired in 1993 “cannot be and will not be gone into and/or adjudicated in the said appeals which is confined to the inter se claims regarding the “disputed land” admeasuring 0.313 acres only”