AIMPLB to take call on Ayodhya verdict review today

tribune News Service

Lucknow, November 16

An important meeting of the executive committee of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board is scheduled on Sunday to discuss if the board will file a review petition regarding the Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya.

Senior lawyer and member of AIMPLB Zafaryab Jilani said a detailed discussion on the verdict will take place during the meeting.

The meeting will be held on the campus of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow where the lawyers who represented the case are likely to be present.

After the SC verdict gave the entire disputed land for the construction of the Ram temple, the Muslim stakeholders have been sharply divided on the issue of going in for a review petition and if they should accept the five acres of land in Ayodhya.

The apex court had stated that either the Central Government can give the five-acre land to the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board from the nearly 68 acres of land it had acquired in 1993 under the Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act or the state government could hand over the piece of land at a “suitable prominent place in Ayodhya”.

Iqbal Ansari, the son of the original litigant Hashmin Ansari, has ruled out chances of his filing a review petition maintaining that he would respect the Supreme Court verdict.

However, Jilani, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the ruling. He is also the convener of the All-India Babri Masjid Action Committee (AIBMAC). Earlier, he was the counsel for the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and is now representing the AIMPLB.

Speaking to the media in Delhi soon after the verdict was delivered, Jilani had said he respected the SC verdict but was not ‘satisfied’ with it and would study the judgment before deciding if they would go for a review petition.

According to Jilani, all senior leaders will meet during the AIMPLB meeting on November 17 to discuss the issue threadbare and take a final call on the legal options available to them.