The Shia Waqf Board claimed that a part of the disputed land given to the Shia Waqf Board, which is a party in the Ayodhya case, belonged to it. The Shia Waqf Board claimed that a part of the disputed land given to the Shia Waqf Board, which is a party in the Ayodhya case, belonged to it.

The Shia Waqf Board informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that a mosque can be built in a Muslim-dominated area, at a reasonable distance from the disputed site in Ayodhya.

“Answering respondent (Shia Board) is also of the view that, to bring quietus, masjid can be located in a Muslim- dominated area at a reasonable distance from the most revered place of birth of Maryada Purshottam Sri Ram,”

The Waqf Board claimed that a part of the disputed land given to the Shia Waqf Board — a party in the Ayodhya case — belongs to it.

“…since Babri Masjid was a Shia Waqf Board property, Shia Central Waqf Board UP alone is entitled to negotiate and arrive at a peaceful settlement with other remaining stakeholders,” it said in an affidavit.

Seeking an amicable solution to the dispute, the Shia Waqf Board requested the court to appoint a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. The panel should include members appointed by the Prime Minister and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, it said.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had in 2010 ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acres area at the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.

The three-judge bench of the high court, by a 2:1 majority, had said the land be partitioned equally among three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

Welcoming the development, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said the board’s intervention was “God sent”. “According to me this intervention by the Shia Waqf board is God sent,” Swamy told news agency ANI.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had questioned Swamy’s locus standi in the land dispute case. He petitioned the court seeking an early resolution to the dispute.

Recently, a three-judge bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer has been constituted by Chief Justice J S Khehar to hear a batch of petitions challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case from August 11.

With PTI inputs

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