Ayodhya: SC queries Muslim parties on status of 'birth place' as party to dispute

Muslim parties opposing claims of Hindus over the disputed Ram Janambhoomi-Babri masjid site Friday faced some searching questions from the Supreme Court which asked why the 'janmsthan' or birth place of Lord Ram cannot have legal rights like a "juristic person" to seek title of the property.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was told by senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Sunni Waqf Board and others including original litigant M Siddiq, that for the first time in 1989, deity 'Ram Lalla Virajman' and the birthplace moved the court as parties to seek claim over the disputed site.

He vehemently opposed the making of 'janmsthan' a party in the lawsuit filed by the deity through next friend Deoki Nandan Agrawal and said "this we did not encounter till 1989".

Dhavan told the bench, also comprising justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer, which was hearing the case on the 23rd day, as to how the piece of land can file the case and can have the status of "juristic person" to sue in a litigation.

He opposed the submissions of Hindu parties that it was their age-old belief, based on 'Skand Puran' and other religious texts, that Lord Ram took birth there.

The bench questioned Dhavan as to how the belief of Hindu worshippers can be challenged with regard to existence of 'janmasthan' and said the "sanctity of belief" that Lord Ram took birth there and whether it was genuine or "frivolous" can only be tested under Hinduism.

"What was discovered in 1989 either the belief that it was the birth place or (the fact that) it (janmsthan) acquired legal sanctity," the bench asked.

"Your argument is that the 'janmsthan' was an area on the earth and it has the juristic personality which was something invented by them (Hindus) first time in 1989. The question is when was the occasion for anybody to assert that 'janmsthan' has the juristic personality," the bench said, adding that earlier there was no occasion for Hindus to say that the birth place has legal rights as a "juristic person".

Dhavan said, "you are asking me to answer the impossible."