Explained: Why Hindus won claim over both the outer and inner courtyard at disputed site

It has said that according to the Hindu witnesses, the Hindus used to offer prayer to the Kasauti stone pillars placed inside the mosque. “

“Muslim witnesses have acknowledged the presence of symbols of Hindu religious significance both inside and outside the mosque,” the SC has said.

The Supreme Court has said that Hindus have established “a clear case of a possessory title” to the outside courtyard by virtue of “long, continued and unimpeded worship” at the Ram Chabutra and other objects of religious significance.

It has said that according to the Hindu witnesses, the Hindus used to offer prayer to the Kasauti stone pillars placed inside the mosque. “Muslim witnesses have acknowledged the presence of symbols of Hindu religious significance both inside and outside the mosque,” the SC has said.

Importantly, the SC points out that entry into the three-domed structure “was possible only by seeking access through either of the two doors on the eastern and northern sides of the outer courtyard which were under the control of the Hindu devotees”.

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Based on these findings, the SC states that “on the balance of probabilities”, there is “clear evidence to indicate” that the worship by the Hindus in the outer courtyard continued “unimpeded in spite of the setting up of a grill-brick wall in 1857”.

“Their possession of the outer courtyard stands established together with the incidents attaching to their control over it,” the SC has stated.

On inner courtyard, the SC says that “there is evidence on a preponderance of probabilities to establish worship by the Hindus prior to the annexation of Oudh by the British in 1857”.

“The Muslims have offered no evidence to indicate that they were in exclusive possession of the inner structure prior to 1857 since the date of the construction in the sixteenth century.”

Kaunain Sheriff M

Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies. With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health. His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award. Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time. Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More

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