The Hindu : Govt. for early hearing on acquired land

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 31, 2003

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Govt. for early hearing on acquired land

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI JAN. 30 . The Government would like to see an early sitting of a Supreme Court Bench to take a considered view on the question of handing over part of the Central Government- acquired land in Ayodhya back to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad-controlled Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas.

Government sources confirmed this today even as the general secretary of the VHP, Pravin Togadia, was reported to have warned in Ahmedabad that a "serious crisis'' would overcome the Vajpayee Government if certain steps were not taken on the Ayodhya issue. The warning came with just three weeks left for the `dharam sansad' to be held here to once again announce a "last and final date'' for the start of construction of a Ram temple on the disputed site in Ayodhya.

Last year, the VHP enacted a similar drama after a meeting of the `dharam sansad' leading to the `shila daan' fiasco and the Court decision was not to allow any part of the acquired land in Ayodhya to be handed over to any party pending the settlement of the main title suit in the case. But that "stay'' was for six weeks, and now it is more than 40 weeks.

It is not yet certain whether the Centre will itself ask for an early constitution of the Bench and a hearing but the position is that "any party'' can make the request, even the Uttar Pradesh Government. Given the fact that the VHP has already publicly stated that it would not approach the court as it did not recognise the court's "jurisdiction'' on any matter in relation to the Ayodhya dispute, it has been left to the Vajpayee Government to find a way out to satisfy the VHP and the larger Sangh Parivar.

Sources in the BJP have confirmed that the Ayodhya issue was being treated as urgent and was an important factor in the decision to bring Arun Jaitley back as Law Minister in the Union Cabinet. Some movement on the Ram temple construction could also prove useful to the BJP in reasserting its love for the Hindutva `mantra'.

It is also being said in BJP circles that having consistently practised law, Mr. Jaitley was able to give "sound legal advice'' to the Government on a number of tricky issues.

The former Union Law Minister, Jana Krishnamurthi, made it clear today that at no point had he insisted on retaining the Law portfolio. While confirming that the Prime Minister was "gracious enough'' to have offered him other portfolios which he had declined, he refused to divulge the reasons for this but indicated that the Prime Minister knew those reasons "which were the same'' as when he had declined a ministerial berth last June. Health was not an issue, in fact too much had been made of his health.

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