NEW DELHI: Hearing in the Ayodhya case took a new tum Sept.19, as the Center was noncommittal on rebuilding a mosque if the Supreme Court found that no Hindu temple or its religious structure existed at the disputed site there. “Will you rebuild the mosque in the event court finds that no Hindu temple or a Hindu religious structure was in existence there?” a five judge bench headed by Chief Justice, M. N. Venkatchaliah asked solicitor general Dipankar P. Gupta. However, Mr. Gupta reiterated that the government’s action would be in support of the “wishes of the community.” The bench currently considering the maintainability of the Presidential reference asked him again whether the government had “ascertained” wishes of the Muslim community wait would await the court’s opinion to find them.
“Wishes are already known,” the solicitor general said, adding “there can’t be any doubt about their wishes. They want to construct a mosque.” He said the government would hand over the site to the Muslim community for the construction of the mosque if it was found that no Hindu temple or its any religious structure existed prior to the construction of disputed Ram Janam bhoomi Babri Masjid structure.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 23, 1994
