Ayodhya case verdict: Will there be a Sunni or Shia mosque at 5-acre allotted land?

One of the longest-running and politically sensitive Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case finally reached a verdict by the Supreme Court on Saturday. A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, in a unanimous judgement, decided the disputed Ayodhya site to be given to Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas.

The verdict also directed the Central government to a lot a suitable plot of land measuring 5 acres within Ayodhya to Sunni Waqf Board to construct a mosque. While the Sunni Waqf Board said it will seek a review of the judgement, there has been some confusion regarding the alternative plot allotted by the apex court.

In the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, there were a lot of major parties involved in the case. One of the major litigators in the case was the Shia Waqf board, which claimed the Babri Masjid to be its property.

The Shia Waqf board claimed the mosque at the disputed site was built by Mughul dynast Babur's commander Mir Baqi who was a Shia. As per the records with Shia Waqf Board, the Babri Masjid is named Masjif Mir Baqi, which was from the time when it was under their control until 1944.

The Shia Waqf Board had filed a petition claiming rights over the disputed land. But the Supreme Court dismissed Shia Waqf Board's Special Leave Petition (SLP)

"Babri Mosque was built by Mir Baqi. It is inappropriate for the Court to get into area of theology," Justice Gogoi said. But Gogoi also noted that Baqi built the mosque on the order of Babur.

The apex court has ordered the central or state government to hand over a suitable plot of land measuring 5 acres within Ayodhya to build a mosque. Hence, the mosque to be built in the 5-acre allotted land will be a Sunni mosque.