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Centre not to be a party in Ayodhya case

The Central government on Tuesday made a submission before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court that it will not be a party in the Ayodhya case.

Additional Solicitor General R N Trivedi and counsel R P Malhotra pleaded on behalf of the Centre before the three-member division bench, comprising Justice Sudhir Narayan, Justice Syed Rafat Alam and Justice Bhanwar Singh.

The counsels maintained that as the government was the receiver of the acquired land, it was not necessary for it to become a party to the case.

They also stated that the government was spending Rs 300 million annually for the security and other arrangements in Ayodhya to maintain the status quo at the acquired land.

During the hearing, the court also questioned government about who would bear the expenses of a commission -- if constituted -- to record the statements of the witnesses in day-to-day hearing.

On Monday, the Sunni Central Waqf Board and Nirmohi Akhara had filed their objections to the Centre's application for a day-to-day hearing of the title suits in the Ayodhya case.

In its objection, the SCWB had submitted that the Centre had no locus-standi to move such an application, since it was not a party in the suits.

Besides, the UP government had already moved such an application, which was disposed off by the court on July 12, 2001.

UNI

The Ayodhya Issue: Complete Coverage

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