Supreme Court Order on Ayodhya Widely Welcomed

New Delhi, Sep 28 (IANS) The Congress Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court order dismissing a petition seeking postponement of the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya row.

"I welcome the decision on behalf of the party. The party has always maintained that the solution to the dispute should be found through talks or the decision of the court should be respected. Everyone should wait for the judgement of the high court," Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said.

Answering queries, Dwivedi said that it is the social responsibility of every citizen to maintain peace and harmony.

"Everybody should abide by the verdict of the court," he said, adding that the parties to the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi title suit case can move the Supreme Court after the high court verdict.

Asked about the verdict coming close to the dates of the Games, Dwivedi said "it was a coincidence."

"The decision should come," he said.

BJP too Welcomes SC Verdict

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday welcomed the apex court order dismissing a petition seeking deferment of the Ayodhya verdict, saying "it had ended uncertainty".

"We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court paving the way for the Allahabad High Court to give its judgment," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.

He said parties to the dispute also wanted an early decision.

"We will wait for the decision of the high court," he said.

The BJP spokesman said there were legal options available for the parties to the dispute.

Answering queries, Javadekar said the party had already made an appeal to people to maintain calm.

The petition in the Supreme Court seeking deferment of the judgment of the high court was filed by former bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi.

Tripathi had also sought the court's direction to the parties to explore the possibility of an out-of-court amicable settlement.

Apex Court Made Appropriate Decision, says RSS 

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court order dismissing a petition to defer the Ayodhya verdict, and said that the apex court had made the appropriate decision.

RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said the whole country was looking forward to the Allahabad High Court judgment on the title suit in the Ayodhya dispute.

"There was a deliberate process to defer the judicial process. The petitioner had no locus standi," Madhav said, adding that the apex court had done what was appropriate.

He said that the Allahbad court judgment will be one step forward in the legal process.

To a query, Madhav said that Sangh leaders will meet to deliberate the high court judgment.

An three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia Tuesday dismissed the petition of former bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi for deferment of the high court verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi dispute.

Tripathi had also sought the the court's direction to the parties to explore the possibility of an out-of-court amicable settlement.

Muslims Welcome Apex Court Decision

Muslim groups Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court decision to allow the Allahabad High Court to deliver its verdict on the Ayodhya dispute.

The Darul Uloom Deoband, one of the country's leading Muslim seminaries based in Uttar Pradesh, told IANS that any delay in pronouncing the verdict would have "only vitiated communal peace and harmony and generated an atmosphere of mistrust".

"The issue has lingered on for the last sixty years… it is time the matter is sorted out," said Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi, a teacher at the seminary.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) also reacted similarly.

Welcoming the apex court decision, board member and legal convenor Zafaryab Jilani said: "We are hopeful that the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court will be able to deliver the judgment by Oct 1."

"This will be good for all," he said.

Maulana Niaz Ahmed Farooqi of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, one of the oldest Muslim organisations in the sub-continent, said the Supreme Court decision would help "in doing away with the uncertainty that hovers around the dispute".

"Lingering on the dispute would have made it more complicated... It would have disturbed the peace... People have prepared their mind for the high court decision and they are ready to hear that," Farooqi said.