Ayodhya hearing: Muslims don’t get ownership merely because they prayed there, SC told

New Delhi, Aug 16: The Supreme Court which is hearing the Ayodhya dispute was told that there were sculptures, images etc in the Babri Masjid structure, which showed that this was a place of divine sanctity for Hindus.

Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for deity Ram Lalla Virajman, said that there were sculptures, images etc in the Babri Masjid structure, which showed that this was a place of divine sanctity for Hindus. To call such a place a Mosque is not quite credible, he also said.

He further said that the imagery, sculptures within the structure show it was not a mosque. Such things are not usually seen in mosques. The fact that Muslims prayed there does not give them ownership over it, he said.

Three judges of the Allahabad High Court had held that there was a temple at the disputed site, Vaidyanathan told the bench also comprising Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.

"Justice SU Khan of the high court had said that the mosque was built on the ruins of the temple," the senior advocate told the bench.

Senior advocate K Parasaran, also appearing for deity 'Ram Lalla Virajman' told the court that it must do "full and complete justice" in all matters before it.

The bench had on Friday last asked as to whether anyone from the 'Raghuvansha' (descendants of Lord Ram) dynasty still resides in Ayodhya.

Fourteen appeals have been filed in the court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

On December 6, 1992, the Babri Masjid, which was constructed at the disputed site in the 16th century by Shia Muslim Mir Baqi, was demolished.