Ayodhya verdict: Temple to come up in disputed land, rules SC; Muslims to get alternative land

Police officers conduct a flag march on a street, before Supreme Court's verdict.- Reuters

The Supreme Court on Saturday directed 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.
Also read: India's Supreme Court directs centre to form trust in 3 months to build temple
"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," Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said while reading out the verdict. 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 apex court.
Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer representing Hindu Mahasabha on Saturday, November 9, said that the Supreme Court has ruled that five acres of land at an alternate location in Ayodhya will be given for the construction of a mosque.
"The Supreme Court has said, to give five acres alternate land to Muslims at a prominent place in Ayodhya," Jain told reporters here. "Supreme Court has said that the Centre and state government will have to decide where the land will be located, but it will be at a prominent location in Ayodhya," he went on to add.
Meanwhile, another lawyer, Varun Kumar Sinha, said, "It is a historic judgment. With this judgment, the Supreme Court has given the message of unity in diversity." The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi ordered that the central government within 3-4 months should formulate a scheme for setting up a trust and hand over the disputed site to it for construction of temple at the site.
A five-judge constitution bench presided by Chief Justice Gogoi will shortly pronounce 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.