No truth in testimonies of NirmohiAkhada witnesses: Muslim party

New Delhi: The Sunni Waqf Board on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it was not willing to accept  “tall claims” of Nirmohi Akhara regarding ‘shebait’ rights in Ayodhya, about it being there from centuries ago. Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhavan who is appearing for the Waqf Board and M Siddiq, who are appellants in the matter, told a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi that a distinction has to be made between the “credible and not credible” parts of the statements by the Akhara’s witnesses.
Bringing out the contradictions and distinguishing between the “credible” and “not incredible” parts of the statements, Dhavan said, “Somebody said Nirmohi Akhara came into being 700 years ago, some said 250 years ago… A witness said Lord Ram was there 12 lakh years ago… But I cannot get away from the fact that there are records that Nirmohi Akhara was there in 1855-56 and a suit was filed in 1885.” Indian Express quoted.
Accepting Nirmohis claim of being ‘shebaits’ of Ram Chabutara in the outer courtyard, the senior counsel claimed that some parts of their statement were not credible. He said, “The tall claims like they were there from time immemorial have to be rejected.” Mr Dhavan pointed out contradictions in the statements of the Akhara’s witnesses before the bench, also comprising Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.
Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhavan categorically submitted before the Supreme Court that there was no veracity in the testimonies of the witnesses belonging to the Nirmohi Akhada, one of the parties in the dispute. He said that Akhada had been claiming its shebait rights over the disputed property in question since 1734 but after the Allahabad High Court’s judgement in 2010 it began making shebait rights over Babri Masjid’s inner courtyard as well which was never in its possession. Dhavan pointed out that the `chabutara’ in the outer courtyard of the mosque was known to be Ram Janmabhoomi only from 1885.
Presenting photographs of Faizabad district magistrate K K Nair and City Magistrate Guru Dutt Singh taken in 1949, the senior advocate said that they had accepted that idols were placed through a conspiracy in the disputed Babri Masjid.