Sibal again issues clarification on Ayodhya matter, targets PM

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Congress leader and senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Thursday clarified he was appearing for petitioner Mohammed Hashmi's son Iqbal Hashmi in the Ayodhya dispute case and not for the Sunni Waqf Board in the Supreme Court.

While doing so, Sibal made the documents of the Supreme Court public and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he thought the chief justice of India (CJI) was wrong.

"I was appearing for petitioner Mohd Hashmi's son Iqbal Hashmi, which is clearly stated in the order by the CJI. Does PM think CJI order was wrong?" Sibal told the reporters.

Further stressing on the issue, Sibal said as far as the matter of the Ram Temple was concerned, it would be built when Lord Rama wants it to be built.

"Where it will built, where not all this thing is upto Lord Rama. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not going to build it. This is not a national agenda as to which court I am going to appear. This is not a national issue," he said.

This clarification of his has come in the wake of the board distancing itself from his yesterday's statement in the court wherein he demanded for the next hearing to be held only in July 2019 after the completion of the next Lok Sabha polls, citing political ramifications

Prime Minister Modi then congratulated the Sunni Waqf Board for dissociating themselves from Sibal's statement in connection with the matter.

Sibal had yesterday too clarified he never represented the Sunni Waqf Board in the ongoing long-standing Ayodhya matter.

The Supreme Court deferred the hearing in the case for February 8, 2018, following which, a controversy erupted wherein the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked the Congress Party and Sibal of adopting a double standard on the issue and politicising it.

The Babri Masjid was built by Mughal emperor Babur in Ayodhya in 1528.

The Hindus, however, claim that a Ram temple that originally stood there was demolished to construct the mosque.

Citing this, Hindu zealots demolished the mosque on December 6, 1992, triggering communal riots in various parts of the country.

Meanwhile, today, a Delhi court will deliver its verdict in connection with the terrorist attack on the makeshift Ram Temple in Ayodhya in 2005.