Muslim clerics happy

“We welcome the order. This is the appropriate step taken by the apex court. In deciding the title case, the high court had given importance to faith rather than the facts,” Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary of Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind, Moulana Mahmood A Madani, told Deccan Herald.

Welcoming the stay order, Ahmad Bukhari, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid said: “The apex court felt that the Allahabad High Court verdict was not based on hard facts and had upheld faith of one community over another.” He said the community expects justice from the apex court on the issue.

“Unlike the Allahabad High Court, the apex court of the country has given this order in the light of facts while deciding ownership case. Such orders restore our faith in the judiciary of the country. We expect that justice will be delivered not only in the ownership case, but also in the case of the demolition of the Babri Masjid,” Bukhari said.

‘Panchayat judgment’

Sixteenth century Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was demolished in 1992 by the karsevaks and other right-wing activists.

Senior clerics of the Darul Uloom, the revered Islamic seminary at Deoband in western Uttar Pradesh said the Allahabad High Court’s verdict was more of a ‘panchayat judgment’ ignoring the evidences, while the Supreme Court took notice of this and has given the fitting order.

“Earlier, the verdict given by the high court was like a panchayat judgement in which the court had tried to satisfy people of all the faiths. In a judicial fight, judgement should be given in a way that justice is delivered, which was missing in the judgement last year,” Abdul Hamid Nomani, a senior cleric at Darul Uloom said.