Delay in Babri hearing: Sunni Waqf Board rejects Sibal's plea

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad lashed out at Sibal for making such a demand and dubbed it as "irresponsible".

The Sunni Waqf Board on Wednesday distanced itself from its counsel Kapil Sibal's submission to the Supreme Court that the hearing of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case is held after 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

During the hearing, the SC rejected Sibal's plea to hear the Ayodhya dispute case after 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

"Yes Kapil Sibal is our lawyer but he is also related to a political party, his statement in SC yesterday was wrong, we want a solution to the issue at the earliest," news agency ANI quoted Sunni Waqf Board member Haji Mehboob as saying.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad lashed out at Sibal for making such a demand and dubbed it as "irresponsible".

"As a lawyer Kapil Sibal can argue any matter but he should not forget that he has been the law minister in the past. What does he mean, when he says don't hear the matter till 2019 as it will have an impact outside? It is unfair and in many ways irresponsible," Prasad told ANI.

He asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi to take a stand on the Ramjanamabhoomi matter.

Sibal had on Tuesday urged the court to take up the 25-year-old matter up only after July 2019, stating that the case was being used to polarise the electorate with an eye on the polls.

The Congress had distanced itself from Sibal's stand in the Supreme Court. "Who he represents in court is Kapil Sibal's personal matter," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had said.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, representing the State of Uttar Pradesh, rebutted all the averments of Kapil Sibal. Mehta told SC that all the related documents and requisite translation copies are on record.

The Supreme Court has set the final hearing on the case for February 8, 2018.

OneIndia News