Ayodhya dispute: 'Like Sabarimala, Supreme Court should pronounce judgement on Ram Mandir case', says UP CM Yogi Adityanath

Ayodhya dispute: UP CM Yogi Adityanath described the Ram temple issue as a matter of faith for the people of India. He said the temple in Ayodhya assumes great significance in the hearts of the people.

Ram Mandir case: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the Supreme Court should pronounce its judgement in the Ram temple case as it had done on the matter of Sabarimala temple. (PTI)

Ayodhya dispute: Describing the Ram temple issue as a matter of faith for the people of India, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the temple in Ayodhya assumes great significance in hearts of the people. He said the Supreme Court should pronounce its judgement in the case as it had done on the matter of Sabarimala temple. Yogi was quoted as saying, "If Supreme Court can give judgement in the Sabarimala case, it should also give its order in Ram temple case. I request the court to do so." At the same time, as reported by PTI, he clarified that for him and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the construction of the Ram temple was not an electoral issue. His remarks have come amid the time when the Visva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has demanded that the Centre should bring a law in Parliament for the construction of the temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. Therefore, Yogi's statement on the matter has been assumed as a significant one. The Supreme Court had on September 27 declined to refer to a larger bench its 1994 verdict for a review over its "questionable observation" that "mosque is not an essential part of the practice of Islam". This paved the way for the apex court to hear the politically sensitive main Ayodhya title suit from today. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is expected to start today hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict which trifurcated the disputed site at Ayodhya into three parts for Ram Lalla, Nirmohi Akhara and the original Muslim litigant. Holding that the earlier observation was made in the limited context of "land acquisition" during the hearing of the Ayodhya case, the top court in a 2-1 verdict made it clear it will not have any bearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute whose outcome will be eagerly awaited ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, reported PTI. On September 28, the Supreme Court paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala. The five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in its 4:1 verdict, said that banning the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine is gender discrimination and the practice violates rights of Hindu women.