Ayodhya verdict
Also called: M. Siddiq v. Mahant Suresh Das (2019) · Topic: Recent Developments in Indian Politics: Coalitions, Mandal and a New Consensus · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 8 "Recent Developments in Indian Politics"
Meaning
The Ayodhya verdict is the Supreme Court's judgment in M. Siddiq v. Mahant Suresh Das, given on 9 November 2019. All five judges agreed (5-0). The Court gave the disputed site to a trust that would build a Ram temple. It used Art. 142, its power to do "complete justice", to give the Sunni Central Waqf Board five acres elsewhere in Ayodhya for a mosque. The judgment ended a title dispute that had been in the courts since 1950.
Example
The Court found that the ASI had not proved that a temple was demolished to build the mosque. It also held that placing idols inside the mosque in 1949 and demolishing it in 1992 were both illegal. After the verdict, a temple trust was formed in 2020 and the temple was consecrated on 22 January 2024. NCERT describes the verdict as building consensus. Critics say it rewarded the 1992 demolition.
Don't confuse with
- Allahabad High Court judgment (2010): The High Court split the 2.77-acre site three ways, among Ram Lalla, the Nirmohi Akhara and the Sunni Waqf Board. The 2019 Supreme Court verdict did not divide the site.
- Ismail Faruqui (1994): This case upheld the 1993 law by which the government took over land at Ayodhya. It did not decide who owned the site.