Jamiat Ulama-E-Hind Chief Maulana Syed Ashhad Rashidi Files Petition Seeking A Review Of SC’s Ayodhya Verdict

The Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind has filed a petition seeking a review of the Supreme Court’s November 9 verdict which cleared the way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

Maulana Syed Ashhad Rashidi, the legal heir of original litigant M Siddiq and president of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, filed the review plea, claiming that the Supreme Court judgment suffers from errors apparent on record and warrants a review under Article 137 of the Constitution of India.

The first review petition filed by the Muslim side in the Supreme Court has stated that giving the disputed land in Ayodhya to Hindus is tantamount to rewarding them for destruction of the Babri Masjid.

“This Honorable Court erred in granting a relief which virtually amounts to a mandamus to destroy the Babri Masjid. This Hon’ble Court erred in rewarding the crimes committed in 1934, 1949 and 1992, by giving title to the Hindu parties, when it had already ruled that the said acts were illegal," according to a 217-page review petition filed through advocate Ejaz Maqbool.

The review petition has questioned as to how the five-judge bench could rule in favor of Hindus even after recording their illegal acts of destroying the domes in 1934 leading up to destruction of the Babri Masjid in 1992.

The petition claimed that the Muslims were always in exclusive possession of the disputed land but the bench opted to give priority to oral testimonies by Hindus over documentary evidence laid down by them. It added that reliance by the Supreme Court based on archaeological evidence and travelogues was also misplaced.

The petition stated that the Supreme Court had also erred in equating wanton acts of destruction and trespass committed by Hindu parties to acts of assertion of claim over the disputed site.

It may be recalled that although the Sunni Waqf Board had announced that it would not seek a review of the Supreme Court judgment, the Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have maintained they are dissatisfied with the Supreme Court judgment.

Both these organizationshave been are represented in the court through individual plaintiffs.