New Delhi: A day after Kapil Sibal pleaded in the Supreme Court that hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case be postponed till after the General Elections in 2019, the Sunni Waqf Board whom Sibal represented in the court virtually disowned the lawyer on Wednesday.

Ayodhya dispute: Supreme Court rejects demand to defer Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case till after 2019 polls

Advertising

Advertising

The Sunni Waqf Board hinted that Sibal literally hijacked the entire case and that they had never asked him to seek deferment of the case till after 2019 polls.

“Yes, Kapil Sibal is our lawyer but he is also related to a political party. His statement in the Supreme Court yesterday was wrong... we want a solution to the issue at the earliest,” Haji Mehboob of the Sunni Waqf Board said.

Also read in Hindi: सुन्नी वक्फ बोर्ड ने कहा-कपिल सिब्बल ने SC में रखी गलत दलील, भाजपा बोली-रुख स्पष्ट करें राहुल

Loading ...

Haji Mehboob's remarks lend credence to the Bharatiya Janata Party's allegation that Sibal behaved as an agent of the Congress party in the Supreme Court rather than as an agent for the Sunni Waqf Board that was seeking a resolution of the long-standing dispute.

The Congress party, too, had yesterday said that Sibal's remarks did not represent its views.

Its spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Congress party had been consistently saying that the government and political parties should take a decision on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue at the earliest after consulting the Supreme Court.

SHOCKING attempt to inflame Hindu passions! 'Construct Babri Mosque again' posters emerge in UP

Surjewala added that the order of the apex court in this regard should be acceptable to all.

BJP chief Amit Shah had yesterday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his party to clear their stand on the Ram Janmabhoomi case after (party leader and) lawyer Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court that hearing in the matter should be held after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Loading ...

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court, while rejecting Sibal's demand, said that it would hear the civil appeals filed by various parties challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi–Babri Masjid title dispute on February 8 next year.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S A Najeeb also asked the Advocates on Record of appeals to sit together and ensure that all the requisite documents are translated, filed and numbered before the apex court Registry.

The bench took serious note of the submission of senior advocate Kapil Sibal that the appeals be heard in July 2019 after completion of the next Lok Sabha polls as the atmosphere at present was not conducive.

December 6, 1992: 25 years on, a look at leaders who led demolition of Babri

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, vehemently opposed contentions that the pleadings were not complete and asserted that everything has been complied with and the cases were ripe for hearing.

A three-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had ordered that the land is partitioned equally among three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the deity, Ram Lalla.

(With agency inputs)