Status Stays Quo, Says SC

VHP and the government were perhaps not prepared for it -- the Supreme Courtunambiguously and unequivocally  rejecting plans for a bhoomi pujannear the disputed site at Ayodhya on March 15 and ordering that no pujaor religious activity will be allowed at the acquired land.

The three-judge bench of the court heard a submission by Attorney General Soli Sorabjee lasting for nearly 90 minutes and then directed: "No part of the acquired land shall be handed over to anyone by the central government. The same shall be retained and no part will be allowed to be used for any other purpose till further orders."

The bench went on to say: "No religious activity of any kind by anyone either symbolic or actual including bhumipuja or shila puja, shall be permitted or allowed to take place.

"Furthermore, no part of the aforesaid land shall be handed over by the Government to anyone and the same shall be retained by the Government till the disposal of this writ petition nor shall any part of this land be permitted to be occupied or used for any religious purpose or in connection therewith," the Bench said.

The crucial order by the Bench comprising B N Kirpal, G B Pattanayak and V N Khare came on a bunch of petitions including one that sought to restrain the VHP's plans for a bhumi puja in Ayodhya on Friday.

The interim order came on a writ petition filed by Mohd Aslam alias Bhure seeking deployment of Army, restraining Kar Sevaks from reaching Ayodhya and seizure of the carved pillars lying at Karsevakpuram at Ayodhya and Pindwara in Rajasthan by district authorities.

The Bench brushed aside preliminary submissions of the counsel for petitioner and asked the Attorney General as to what made the Centre think that despite the apex Court ordering status quo in 1994, symbolic puja could be performed there.

Attorney General Soli Sorabjee said the Centre keeping in mind the sentiments of people thought it fit that symbolic puja could be permitted after imposing stringent conditions and restrictions which would not result in escalation of the situation.

The bench observed that the permission given for the symbolic puja at the disputed site in 1992 resulted in the demolition of the structure despite undertakings given by the government.

"We direct that on the 67.703 acres of land located in revenue plots no. 159 & 160 in village kot ramchandra which is vested in the central government, no religious activity of any kind by anyone either symbolic or actual including bhumi puja or shila puja, shall be permitted or allowed to take place," the three-judge bench said.

1994 Judgement

Appearing for VHP, former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Ram Jois said that the correct reading of the 1994 judgement was that the status quo order was enforced on the 2.77 acres of disputed land.

He said the status quo order did not apply to the 67 acres of undisputed acquired land, of which 43 acres was owned by the Ram Janambhumi Nyas, and hence symbolic puja could be performed there.

The bench said "at present even if it is the correct reading of the 1994 order, we will not allow any puja which will escalate the situation."

Jois even went to the extent of trying to use the emotional plea that all the trustees of the Nyas, who started the movement 40 years ago, are over 75 years of age now and their last desire in life was to see the performance of a small puja there because they felt that the temple would not be constructed during their life-time.

Centre's Stand

Earlier, no one was prepared for the submission by the centre, through the AG Sorabjee, for permitting a symbolic puja by 60 to 70 sants for three hours at a site 300 metres away from the disputed spot in the acquired "undisputed" land.

"The Centre's stand is that a reading of the 1994 judgement and the previous order of the Supreme Court, temporary use for a limited duration of the undisputed adjacent land is not prohibited notwithstanding pendency of the title suits before the Allahabad High Court," argued the AG.

He submitted that the Centre's stand was the correct interpretation of the 1994 judgement of the Supreme Court. The status quo direction was only regarding the disputed structure and hence a symbolic puja with adequate conditions and restrictions could be allowed, he said.

Sorabjee had suggested that the karsevaks would merely be witnessing the puja from a certain distance on the undisputed land and the total number would not be allowed to exceed 1000.

He said the government had thought to give this concession in view of strong emotions expressed by a particular community.

The bench however observed that the centre is under constitutional obligation to adhere to the status quo directive given by the supreme court.

The Government's stand in the Supreme Court came under sharp attack from opposition parties who paralysed Lok Sabha proceedings. Some NDA constituents attacked the Attorney General's views before the court and were critical that they were not consulted by the Prime Minister on the issue.

However, the Government made it clear in the Rajya Sabha that it will abide by the Supreme Court order to maintain status quo in Ayodhya.

"I Was Only Giving My Own Interpretation"

"I was only giving my own interpretation of the 1994 judgement regarding status quo to the Court on a specific query from the Bench. I was not airing anyone's view - neither of the government nor that of VHP,"  the AG told reporters in an unusual interaction with the media.

Sorabjee said the prime minister had told him to  argue the matter as law permitted and leave it to the Court.

Asked whether he was saying that he had not at all discussed the issue with the government, Sorabjee said "Naturally as Attorney General, the Government cannot disown the views I gave before the Supreme Court. But, I was not briefed nor told to make the submission regarding the restrictions to be imposed if at all the Court were to permit the symbolic puja," he added.

He said "I did not see the status quo order of the Supreme Court in its 1994 judgement apply to the acquired undisputed land. And hence, I gave my views to the Court that a symbolic puja could be permitted there."

"On my reading of the judgement, the status quo did not apply to the undisputed land and holding of puja would not be hit by the status quo order," Sorabjee said.

No Violation

The centre has declared that it would abide by the Supreme Court ruling prohibiting the bhoomi puja at the undisputed land in Ayodhya and assured that no violation would be allowed on March 15.

The assurance was held out by Law Minister Arun Jaitley in the face of an angry Opposition contesting the Government's submission before the SC that a symbolic bhoomi puja should be allowed at the "undisputed" site.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after enraged opposition members stormed the Well shouting anti-government slogans.

Similar scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha, which was adjourned in the post-lunch session.

"I Will Try My Best"

Uttar Pradesh Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri also went on record to say that the administration will abide by the supreme court order to maintain status quo in Ayodhya.

When asked whether the people assembled at Ayodhya ahead of VHP's March 15 plans would be arrested, he said, "Wait and see, what happens. If necessary, they will also be arrested."

"I will try my best to control the situation, and I believe that I will be able to do the needful," he said when asked whether the state administration was geared up to meet the eventuality of VHP/Bajrang al types turning aggressive.

Checkpoint: Ayodhya

Reacting to the apex court's order, RJN President Ramchandra Das Paramhans said in Ayodhya that the March 15 programme of Shila daan at the undisputed site would go ahead irrespective of the court verdict and asked Karsevaks to continue with their "work" even at the cost of facing the wrath of the administration.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has virtually sealed Karsevak Puram and Ramsevak Puram and further tightened the security noose in and around the holy city to prevent any breach of law and order.

Anti-riot vehicles and barricades have also been positioned outside the karyashala (workshop) where shilas are being carved.

The strength of para-military forces has also been beefed up in the entire city and patrolling intensified, police sources said.

Ayodhya has been divided into three zones -- Red, Yellow and Green -- depending on the sensitivity. While security arrangements have already been tightened in the Red Zone, deployment is also being made in the other two zones.

Refusing to take any chances in view of the experience of 1990 and 1992, authorities have deployed 79 companies of paramilitary forces to maintain law and order.

Accepting the possibility of kar sevaks entering Ayodhya via various routes, the administration has also deployed security forces in villages and railway tracks close to the adjoining districts.

Patrolling by river police has been intensified in the Saryu River, which is believed to be used by kar sevaks to infiltrate.

VHP Reaction

"The Supreme Court order does not apply to the programme on Friday,"  was the line taken by VHP President Ashok Singhal and Rama Janambhoomi Nyas President Ramchandra Das Paramhans. .

The court has barred any activity on plot Nos 159 and 160 whereas the March 15 programme is to be held 500 feet away on undisputed land, Singhal said.

The court has not put any restraint on this."The court decision is not an objection to our programme" and it has not issued any directions to the government regarding this, he said.

The VHP leader said the government has to decide whether they will allow it or not but declared that they would go ahead with the programme on Friday.

Earlier, Paramhans said "There is no change in my programme of offering a shila to Ram Lalla for construction of the temple on March 15 because of the judgement.

"We had never considered conducting our programme at the said plot numbers. We are holding our programme 500 feet away from there," Singhal said, claiming "the court verdict is not a 'badhak' (obstruction) to our programme." Claiming that the court had issued "no directions" to the government regarding their programme to donate a shila to the Receiver, Faizabad Divisional Commissioner, he said it was now for the government to decide whether to allow it or not.

Singhal said the VHP leaders in Delhi were trying to establish contact with the government for permission to perform 'shila poojan' and 'daan'.

"Anyway we are going ahead with our scheduled programme," said Paramhans. Singhal said the programme will start at the scheduled time at 2.15 PM and last three hours.

"The full-fledged programme of 'pooja' will be conducted at a place where there is no restriction from the Supreme Court," he said, but refused to disclose the exact place.

He said "only" 2,000 people, including 500 saints, would accompany Paramhans when he proceeds to donate the 'shila' and added that if stopped, they would court arrest.

"Our programme will be extremely peaceful," they said.

Paramhans, however, said that if their "programme was subjected to violence, there will be retaliation like the one after the Godhra incident." Singhal said the Mandir Nirman Samiti would hold a meeting here tomorrow to discuss the future course of action.

He said they would also hold talks with Divisional Commissioner A K Gupta after his return from Delhi in the light of the Supreme Court decision.

As expected Praveen Togadia of VHP severely criticized the court's decision and said that the final decision on the issue will be taken in Ayodhya tomorrow.

"The proposed programme by VHP on March 15 will be decided by sants and we will abide by that,"  he said, describing
the Supreme Court directive as unfortunate.  He alleged that while people of a particular community were allowed to offers prayers anywhere, the Hindus were being stopped from performing a puja in Ayodhya.

Vowing to take the temple construction issue to its logical conclusion, Togadia said if the devotees were stopped, the VHP would undertake a countrywide satyagraha that would cover every nook and corner of the country.

"We will keep on trying not only to start the construction process but also to finish it," he said.

The VHP leader also said that the Parishad would go ahead with the shila pujan but did not specify whether the ceremony would be carried out on March 15 or later.

Muslim Bodies

While terming the court verdict as "the first victory of justice," the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari expressed hope that other cases pending on the Babri Masjid issue would also be resolved through the court.

However, he regretted the stand taken by the government in the Court and said "it is now crystal clear that the Central Government is not ruled by National Democratic Alliance but by the VHP".

Similar views were echoed by Member of the All India Babri Masjid Action Committee Rahat Mehmood who went on to say that talks were no solution to the dispute and the problem should be addressed only through the courts.

"We regard this as the victory of the law and not as the victory of the Muslims of the country," said Secretary of All India Muslim Personal Law Board Abdul Rahim Qureshi.

Stating that the Law Board had complete faith in the country's Constitution, Qureshi did not rule out the possibility of holding talks but only with the "government or those groups who had no role in the demolition of the Babri Mosque".