Hindu body 'Nirmohi Akhara' was told by the Supreme Court on Friday that if it claims to be the 'shabait' (devotee) of deity 'Ram Lalla', then it will lose the title right over the disputed property.
The Allahabad High Court, in its judgment of 2010 on four civil lawsuits, had partitioned the 2.77-acre disputed land in Ayodhya equally among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
Akhara claimed to be the sole official 'shabait' of deity 'Ram Lalla Virajman' at the disputed site since time immemorial and had said that that it had been appointing 'priest' for worship there.
"The moment you say that you are the 'shabait' (devotee of deity 'Ram Lalla'), you (Akhara) cannot have the title over the property," a five-judge Constitution bench told the counsel for Nirmohi Akahara.
The bench comprised Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.
Justice Chandrachud distinguished the character of the Akhara as the sole devotee and said that it cannot have the title right over the disputed land.
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"Your claim of one-third over the property straightaway goes," he observed and asked senior advocate Sushil Kumar Jain, counsel for the Akhara, how it claimed the ownership rights of the property in question.
"No, my right does not vanish. I have been in possession of the property in the capacity of the 'shabait'," the senior lawyer said.
Justifying the Hindu body's claim, he said that though the deity has been held to be a juristic person, the 'shabaits' are legally entitled to undertake and pursue litigations on behalf of the deity.
Taking a stand contrary to the counsel for deity 'Ram Lalla', the senior lawyer for the Akahara said, "The idols should not have been made a party."