Ahead of the crucial hearing on the highly sensitive Ayodhya case in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the government on Monday said the two sides should either resolve the matter through negotiations or accept the court verdict. The comments from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee came on a day whenthe government indicated its readiness to maintain law and order situation in the country.
Supreme Court will, on Tuesday, hear a public interest litigation seeking deferment of the judgment by the Allahabad High Court in one of India’s longest running legal disputes.
A day before the Allahabad High Court judgment was to be delivered (on September 24), the Supreme Court had stayed it for a week. The high court had decided to deliver the much-anticipated verdict on whether the land belongs to Sunni Central Wakf Board or to the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha.
The case has been lingering in courts since 1949.
"We are waiting for the court verdict. There are two solutions to this issue that both the Congress and the government would accept," Mukherjee said in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.
Asked about the Centre's stand on the 60-year-old dispute, Mukherjee replied: "The two contesting parties who filed the Ayodhya title suit have to resolve the matter among themselves through discussions. If it was not possible, then the court verdict has to be accepted."
The Supreme Court has asked the government's top law officer, Attorney General G. E. Vahanvati, to be present during the hearing. It means the court could pose a few questions to the government on the issue.
Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily and Vahanvati had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week after the Supreme Court deferred the judgment.
The issue of stand to be taken by the government before the apex court was understood to have been discussed in the meeting.
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