Jamiat review petition against SC's Ayodhya verdict ready, to be filed on Dec 3 or 4

Jamiat chief Maulana Arshad Madani said the purpose of filing the review petition is not to disrupt the country's "national solidarity and law and order", but to use the privilege provided in the law, to make a review request.

He claimed the Supreme Court's decision was "beyond the understanding" of millions of people.

Madani had said last week that the Supreme Court's Ayodhya verdict is "not based on evidence and logic" and the body would challenge it legally.

The draft of the review petition against the Supreme Court verdict is ready and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind would file petition soon, the Jamiat said in a statement.

Sources said the review petition will be filed on December 3 or 4.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) also said on Wednesday that a review petition against the Supreme Court's verdict on the Ayodhya title suit will be filed before December 9.

"The board is firm on its decision to file a review petition in the Supreme Court and we have time till December 9 for doing so," AIMPLB secretary Zafaryab Jilani said.

The Sunni Central Waqf Board decided on Tuesday that it would not file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case, but was yet to take a call on whether to accept a five-acre alternative plot for a mosque.

On November 14, the working committee of the Jamiat had formed a five-member expert panel comprising legal experts and religious scholars to look into every aspect of the November 9 Supreme Court verdict.

The panel under the chairmanship of Madani looked into the prospects of a review petition challenging the apex court verdict and recommended that a review petition should be filed in the case.

The Jamiat panel observed that the judgement was against the Muslim parties and it was not a final one as the option of reviewing it was available under the Constitution of India, the statement said.

The Jamiat panel found that in its more than 1,000-page judgment, the five-member apex court bench under the then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi accepted most of the evidence and arguments in favour of the Babri mosque, the statement said.

"While the legal option is available, there is also Sharia obligation to defend the masjid till the last breath," the expert panel had said.

The Supreme Court, in its verdict, said the entire 2.77 acres of disputed land should be handed over to the deity Ram Lalla, who was one of the three litigants.

The five-judge Constitution bench also directed the Centre to allot a five-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board in Ayodhya to build a mosque.