No mediation effort after hearing of appeals commenced in SC: Vishva Hindu Parishad on Ayodhya case

Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Friday said that it wishes to clarify that 'the Hindu side in Ram Janmabhoomi appeals have not been approached for and has not participated in any mediation effort after the hearing of appeals commenced in the Supreme Court'.

"The VHP wishes to make it clear that the Hindu side in Ram Janmabhoomi appeals have not been approached for and has not participated in any mediation effort after the hearing of appeals commenced in the Supreme Court," Vinod Bansal, National Spokesperson of Vishva Hindu Parishad, said in a statement.

After taking note of some press reports about a settlement on Ram Janmabhoomi issued by the Sunni Wakf Board, the VHP said that they have not even been intimated of any such proposal.

"We also made it clear that in an application in the first week of July 2019 we had requested the Supreme Court to declare the mediation as concluded and to fix a date for final hearing. This was also subsequently mentioned before the Chief Justice of India," the statement issued by Bansal said.

It further said that the apex court had declared on August 2 that the mediation had failed. However, on September 18, on mentioning by the other side, the top court had permitted that if any party is desirous of a settlement it may approach the mediation panel.

The Hindu side had specifically conveyed to the mediators that they were not interested in mediation any further, it said.

The VHP and the other Hindu litigants have sincerely participated in the several attempts held earlier for an amicable settlement and they were not successful, Bansal asserted.

"The Supreme Court has finally heard the matter, the hearings which continued for 40 working days and more than 200 hours. Reviving the mediation bogey at the fag-end of the hearing appears to be mischief and an effort to cause confusion," the statement read.

The VHP said it is of the considered view that the decision would be in the interest of the country and all concerned parties to now only await the judgement of the top court.

Earlier in the day, the Muslim parties denied reaching a settlement by giving up their claim on the disputed land in Ayodhya in the Supreme Court.Rejecting the report that Muslim parties have filed a statement for settlement in the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case, advocate-on-record Ejaz Maqbool for the Muslim parties, issued a statement denying the settlement claims.