New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Nirvani Akhara, one of the Hindu parties in Ayodhya title dispute, to file a note seeking the right to manage the worship of deity as Shebait, a person who takes care of the deity and manages its daily affairs.
The counsel representing Akhara mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, as his client erroneously missed the deadline for filing the note on the moulding of relief. The Akhara’s counsel sought the court’s permission to file the document in the registry. The court permitted the counsel to file the documentation.
Both — Nirmohi Akhara and Nirvani Akhara — have contested each other’s stand as the Shebait at the birthplace of Lord Ram, which is at the center of the Ayodhya title dispute.
Seeking relief, the Nirvani Akhara said that none of the Hindus parties has made claims for the right of Shebaitship, instead claiming to be the next “friend” of the deity or the manager of the disputed site. Therefore, the Shebaitship of the Nirvani Akhara remains unchallenged, which was made a defendant in two separate lawsuits - one filed by UP Sunni Central Wakf Board in 1961 and deity ‘Ram Lalla’, through next friend Deoki Nandan Agarwal, in 1989. The Nirmohi Akhara had filed the suit seeking Shebait right in 1959.
Nirvani, during the hearing, submitted before the court that Mahant Abhiram Das, now deceased, was the priest representing it at the site in 1949. He was allegedly named in the FIR for allegedly placing idols below the central dome in the disputed site. Currently, one of his followers, Dharam Das, is the priest. (IANS)