Ayodhya verdict: Ram Janmabhoomi not a 'legal personality', says SC

While delivering the verdict and bringing down curtains on Ayodhya title suit, one of the longest-running title disputes in India, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said, Ram Janmabhoomi is not a 'legal personality' but the deity is jurisdictional person. A five-judge constitution bench presided by Chief Justice Gogoi pronounced the verdict on a batch of petitions against an order of the Allahabad High Court which trifurcated the site between the parties — Ramlalla Virajman, Sunni Central Waqf Board and Nirmohi Akhara.

Five acres of 'alternate land' to build a mosque

The SC directed the Central government to allocate five acres of "alternate land" to build a mosque at a prominent place in Ayodhya, Vishnu Shankar Jain, counsel for Hindu Mahasabha lawyer, said on Saturday. "The Supreme Court has given five acres of alternate land to Muslims at a prominent place in Ayodhya. The Central and state governments are taking a call on it," Jain told the media persons.

'Centre shall form a scheme for setting up of a trust in 3-4 months' 

While reading out the judgment, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the Centre to give five acres of suitable land to Sunni Waqf Board and at the same time make necessary arrangements for the construction of the temple by forming a trust. "Central government shall form in three to four months a scheme for setting up of a trust. They shall make necessary arrangements for the management of trust and construction of the temple," said Chief Justice Gogoi. He said that the possession of the inner and outer courtyard shall be handed over to the trust. "Suitable plot of land measuring five-acre shall be handed over to Sunni Waqf Board," said the top court.

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Security beefed up across the nation

States across the country had stepped up security and monitoring of social media posts in anticipation of the judgment. The Uttar Pradesh government had warned of severe punishment, including a jail term, for those inciting communal hatred or violence through social media posts and WhatsApp messages. They would be booked under the state’s Gangster Act and also the National Security Act, the police had said. Section 144 has also been imposed in Uttar Pradesh and several other places across the country.

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