SC refuses to revisit 1994 verdict that said mosque isn't integral to namaz

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday declined to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgement that a mosque was not integral to Islam that arose during the hearing of Ayodhya land dispute.

The issue had cropped up when a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was hearing the batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court’s 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided in three parts.

A three-judge bench of the high court, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had ordered that the 2.77 acres of land be partitioned equally among three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

Reading out the verdict, the top court said it has to find the context in which the five-judge bench had delivered the 1994 judgement that a mosque was not integral to Islam which arose during the hearing of Ayodhya land dispute.

The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra commenced pronouncing its verdict on Ayodhya land dispute matter. Justice Ashok Bhushan is reading judgement for himself and the CJI.