WATCH: Congress responds to Centre's petition in Supreme Court to return non-disputed land in Ayodhya, says it hopes the government will abide by what apex court decides

The Congress has reacted to Centre's petition in the Supreme Court seeking permission to return all excess acquired land at the Ram Janmabhoomi site.

Convener of AICC Priyanka Chaturvedi spoke about the Centre's big move. 

"The Supreme Court is the highest decision making authority and all parties' pleas pending in the apex court. We wait for the decision of the apex court. We hope that on the basis of SC's decision Centre does its duty," she said.

The Centre on Tuesday made a big move in the Ayodhya matter, filing a petition in the Supreme Court seeking permission to return all excess acquired land at the Ram Janmabhoomi site.

The application reads that about 67 acres of land were acquired in all, over 25 years ago. Apart from the disputed land, which is about 0.313 acres, the rest can be returned to the owners.

READ | ACCESSED: 1950 title suit map of Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi site demarcating area for which Centre has filed petition in Supreme Court

The government's petition comes on a day that the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear the Ayodhya title suit case, though that is not to happen now owing to the non-availability of Justice Bobde due to medical reasons. 

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed move on the Ayodhya Ram Mandir issue on Tuesday.

"It is welcoming. I congratulate the Central government's decision and this is on one's own respect of faith and a dispute that has been going on for years. We've been telling this from the beginning, the application that has been sent by the Central government, we must get permission to work on the undisputed land ... We welcome the Central government's this move," he said. 

The VHP also welcomed the government's writ petition in the Supreme Court, seeking to return 67-acre land around the disputed site in Ayodhya to its original owners, saying the step was in the right direction.

"This land belongs to Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and is not under any litigation. This is a step in the right direction and we welcome it," VHP's international working president Alok Kumar said. 

READ | Yogi Adityanath welcomes Centre's petition to return excess land in Ayodhya matter, says "We must get permission to work on undisputed land"