Saying that I was sick, unavailable is a lie: Advocate Rajeev Dhavan

Advocate Rajeev Dhavan, who took to social media to claim that he was sacked from the Babri case, hit back at advocate-on-record Ejaz Maqbool and said that it is a lie that he was unavailable.

"I don't know what were their compulsions but they confirmed to me it was a sacking. Now they are saying that I was sick and unavailable, it is a lie," Dhavan told ANI here.

"If a person goes to the dentist for checkup, does he fall ill? I was working on this draft for six days, it was finalised yesterday," he added.

On his behalf, Maqbool said that Dhavan's name could not be given in the review petition because of his unavailability.

"The issue is that my client (Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind) wanted to file the review petition yesterday itself. It was to be settled by Mr Rajeev Dhavan. I couldn't give his name in the petition because he was not available. It's not a big issue," advocate-on-record Ejaz Maqbool said in a statement to ANI.

He also denied that Dhavan was removed because of his illness. "It is wrong to say that Mr Rajeev Dhavan was removed from case (Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind review petition in Ayodhya case) because of his illness," he said.

Earlier Dhavan who represented the Sunni Waqf Board and other Muslim parties in the Ayodhya title dispute case claimed that he was sacked from the case.

"Just been sacked from the Babri case by AOR Ejaz Maqbool who was representing the Jamiat. Have sent formal letter accepting the 'sacking' without demur. No longer involved in the review or the case," Dhavan wrote in a Facebook post.

"I have been informed that Mr Madani has indicated that I was removed from the case because I was unwell. This is total nonsense. He has a right to instruct his lawyer AOR Ejaz Maqbool to sack me which he did on instructions. But the reason being floated is malicious and untrue," he said.

On Monday Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, whose president is Maulana Syed Ashhad Madani had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its verdict in Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case.

On November 9, the apex court had awarded the disputed land to the deity Ram Lalla and asked the Centre and the state government to give the Sunni Waqf Board a five-acre plot in Ayodhya to build a mosque.