On the second day of hearings in the Ayodhya dispute case, the Supreme Court has asked the Nirmohi Akhara to provide evidence of ownership of the disputed site. The Akhara cut a sorry figure when they claimed that all documents were lost in a dacoity in 1982.
Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times
The apex court started hearing the case on a day to day basis from August 6, after no headway was made in mediations by the July 31 deadline. The case is being heard by a Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice SA Bobde, Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Abdul Nazeer.
The Nirmohi Akhara is one of the petitioners who moved SC against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgement that had trifurcated and equally divided the 2.77 acre land among three parties: the deity, Nirmohi Akhada and the Sunni Waqf Board. Yesterday, the Akhada had claimed ownership based on possession. But when the court today asked for revenue records to establish possession over the disputed site, the Akhada failed to provide any documents and claimed that the documents were lost in a dacoity in 1982. Finding them unprepared, the court moved on to hearing other petitioners.