The Hindu : HC reserves orders on petition against excavation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 25, 2003

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HC reserves orders on petition against excavation

By Our Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW MARCH 24. The Allahabad High Court today reserved orders on the admissibility of a petition filed in the court on behalf of Mohammed Hashim Ansari, a plaintiff in the Babri Masjid title suit, seeking "review and recall'' of the court's March 5 order directing the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct excavations near the disputed site at Ayodhya to uncover any likely evidence of an earlier temple where the now demolished Babri mosque once existed.

The ASI submitted its report on the progress of excavations and sought two and a half months to complete the work. It said that two more months would be needed for excavations and a fortnight to write the report. Orders of the court were reserved on this plea also.

Mr. Ansari's petition raised three main grounds. Digging at the disputed site, the petitioner said, was in violation of an earlier Supreme Court order that called for the maintenance of the status quo at the site. It has also referred to the rejection by the Supreme Court of the Presidential reference to settle the issue through excavations. Any excavations would therefore amount to violation of the Supreme Court orders, counsel of the petitioner said.

Another plea made by the plaintiff was that "namaaz'' was offered at the Babri Masjid for more than 400 years, making the area sacrosanct for Muslims. Excavations would, therefore, hurt their sentiments.

The third argument was that the land where the excavations had been allowed was a graveyard. And it would not be proper to conduct excavations at such a place. If the court accepts the admissibility of the petition, arguments by different parties would take place later.

The Central Sunni Waqf Board has also filed a petition seeking certain changes in the excavation. It, however, did not object to the excavation itself.

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