Plea in SC Challenging Validity of Govt’s Ayodhya Land Acquisition

A plea filed in SC contended that Parliament has no legislative competence to acquire land belonging to the state.

(Photo altered by The Quint)

A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday, 4 February, challenging the constitutional validity of the 1993 Central law on land acquisition in Ayodhya, near the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.

The plea contended that Parliament has no legislative competence to acquire land belonging to the state.

The plea, filed by a group of lawyers claiming to be devotees of Ram Lalla, submitted that state legislature has the exclusive power to make provisions relating to the management of affairs of religious institutions inside its territory.

The Centre had on 29 January moved the top court seeking its permission to return the excess or superfluous land around the disputed site to the ‘original’ owners.

The surplus land was acquired by the government under the Acquisition of Certain Areas of Ayodhya Act, 1993, which provides for acquisition of certain disputed areas at Ayodhya.

The BJP had later said that the government “wants to give the land back to Nyas to build Ram temple there”.

"The applicant (Centre) is filing this Application seeking permission of this Court to permit the applicant to fulfil the duty to revert/restore/hand over the excess/superfluous land acquired under the Acquisition of Certain Areas of Ayodhya Act, 1993," the plea said, as per a report in The Times of India.

The Centre in its fresh plea has sought modification of the apex court order of 2003 in which it had directed to maintain status quo with regard to the acquired land, the report added.

(With inputs from PTI)