HC dismisses plea claiming land ownership offered for Ayodhya Mosque
What's the story
Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed against the land allotment in Ayodhya's Dhannipur village for mosque construction, following the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
Two Delhi-based sisters had moved the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad HC on February 3, claiming ownership of the five-acre land allotted to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board for the mosque.
Details
Plot numbers allotted for mosque different from those petitioners filed
Appearing for the state, Additional Advocate-General Ramesh Kumar Singh had opposed the plea, saying that the plot numbers allotted for the mosque are different from those the petition is filed about.
On Monday, Justices DK Upadhyay and Manish Kumar dismissed the plea after the petitioners' lawyer, HGS Parihar, sought to withdraw it.
They expressed concerns about filing the petition without ascertaining the facts.
Background
Petitioners claimed that the land was allotted to their father
Rani Kapoor and Rama Rani Punjabi had said in the writ petition that their father Gyan Chandra Punjabi had come to India during partition in 1947 from Punjab and settled in Faizabad (now Ayodhya) district.
They claimed that their father was allotted 28-acre land in Dhannipur village by the Nazul Department for five years which he continued to possess beyond that period.
Petitioners' claims
'Consolidation officer removed father's name from records,' claimed petitioners
The petitioners' also said that later the name of their father was included in the revenue records.
However, they claimed that his name was struck down from the records against which their father filed an appeal before the Additional Commissioner, Ayodhya, which was allowed.
The petitioners further claimed that the consolidation officer again removed their father's name from the records during consolidation proceedings.
Quote
Petition filed against the order wasn't considered before allotment: Sisters
The petitioners said, "Against the order of the consolidation officer, an appeal was preferred before the Settlement Officer of Consolidation, Sadar, Ayodhya, but without considering the said petition, the authorities allotted five-acre of their 28-acre land to the Waqf Board for the mosque construction."
Information
Petitioners demanded that authorities be restrained from transferring the land
The petitioners demanded that the authorities be restrained from transferring the land to the Sunni Waqf Board till the pendency of dispute before the Settlement Officer.
The State Government has allotted five-acre land to the Sunni Waqf Board in Dhannipur village for the construction of a mosque in compliance with the Supreme Court direction in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri mosque title suit.