Ayodhya case: Lord Ram's birthplace need not be exact spot but could mean surrounding areas, counsel tells SC

Counsel for the Ram Lalla, one of the parties in the Ayodhya title dispute case, on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Lord Ram's birth place need not be the exact spot but could also mean surrounding areas.

"Janmasthan need not be the exact spot but can also mean surrounding areas," Senior counsel K Parasaran said continuing his arguments before a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

The constitution bench, also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud, S A Bobde, Ashok Bhushan and S A Abdul Nazeer, is conducting a day-to-day hearing in the Ayodhya title dispute case after the mediation panel had failed to achieve an amicable settlement.

He said there was no dispute that the disputed site is the "Janmasthana" (birthplace).

Parasaran maintained that both Hindus and Muslims have always called it a Janmasthana.

The counsel further contended that the high court had ordered partition of the disputed properties but no one had sought it.

"The rights of the entire area, that is 2.77 acres as a whole, had to be decided but the high court divided the property," he added.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and including Justices D Y Chandrachud, S A Bobde, Ashok Bhushan and S A Abdul Nazeer, is conducting a day-to-day hearing in the Ayodhya title dispute case after the mediation panel had failed to achieve an amicable settlement.

The apex court is hearing appeals against the September 30, 2010 verdict of the Allahabad High Court in the case.

The high court, in its verdict, had which ordered equal division of the 2.77-acre disputed land in Ayodhya among the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

The 16th-century Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992.