Ayodhya verdict: What were the main decisions Supreme Court announced?

The Supreme Court of India on Saturday delivered a historic verdict in one of the most controversial cases in the history of India, the Ayodhya title dispute case. A 5-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi cleared the way for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot a 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a mosque. CJI Gogoi who read the crucial verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute case directed the BJP-led central government to formulate a scheme under the Ayodhya Act 1993 to set up a trust with a board of trustees. The trust will oversee the construction of a temple, among other matters.

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Here are 10 key takeaways from Ayodhya verdict:

• SC granted the entire 2.77 acre of disputed Ram-Janmbhoomi Babri Masjid land in Ayodhya to deity Ram Lalla.
• Possession of disputed land will be handed over to the deity Ram Lalla, one of the three litigants in the case.
• SC directs Centre to allot alternative land to Muslims to build new mosque.
• SC ruled that suitable land of 5 acre to be handed over to Sunni Waqf board at prominent place for building the mosque.
• SC directed the central government to frame scheme within 3 months and set up a trust and hand over the disputed site to it for construction of the temple at the site.
• SC dismisses plea of Nirmohi Akhara and Sunni waqf board in the case, seeking control of entire disputed land.
• SC ruled that Babri mosque, demolished on December 6, 1992, was not built on vacant land.
• SC says that historical accounts indicate that Ayodhya was the birthplace of Lord Ram. The existence of Sita Rasoi, Ram Chabutra and Bhandar grih are the testimony of the religious fact of the place, says apex court.
• SC says that terming the archeological evidence as merely an opinion would be a great disservice to the Archaeological Survey of India. The ASI has established that there lay a structure beneath Babri Masjid.
• SC ruled that the ASI had not established whether the structure was demolished to build the mosque.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar

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