Rajeev Dhavan will be lawyer for four other petitioners in Ayodhya case: Muslim Personal Board

Slamming Arshad Madani’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind for filing its own review petition and removing Dhavan as their lawyer, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Kamal Farooqui said senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan would continue to be the lawyer for four of the original petitioners.

“For us, Rajeev Dhavan will be the lawyer. We are indebted to him for even fighting the case. We will be filing the review petition for four of the petitioners either by Friday or Saturday. Initially, we had all decided we would file it together. But, now the advocate on record Ejaz Maqbool has done his own thing. Even when we had all met two days ago, there was no change in the decision,” underscored Farooqui.

“Rajeev Dhavan is someone who has upheld Constitutional values and he fought the case well. I don’t know why they decided to file a petition separately and much earlier than decided. We will now have another advocate on record,” added Farooqui.

In the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute, there were eight parties, of which three parties — Sunni Waqf Board, oldest litigant Hashim Ansari’s son Iqbal Ansari and Shia Central Board of Waqf — are not filing a review. Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind filed its review petition on Monday.

Now, AIMPLB will file on behalf of the other four petitioners - Haji Misbahuddeen, Haji Phenku, Farooq Ahmad’s son Mohammad Umar and Maulana Mahfoozurahman.

His comments come in the backdrop of the news that advocate on record Ejaz Maqbool had removed Rajeev Dhavan as the lawyer of Jamiat. Dhavan wrote on Facebook that he had accepted the “sacking without demur”.

Dhavan said he was informed that Madani has indicated that he was removed from the case because he was unwell. “This is total nonsense. He has a right to instruct his lawyer AOR Ejaz Maqbool to sack me which he did on instructions. But the reason being floated is malicious and untrue,” Dhavan asserted.

Dhavan’s letter had also indicated that he was working on the review petition and the team had met on December 1, 2019, to finalise the review and they were supposed to meet on December 2, 2019, to finalise the details.

Earlier in the day, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind had also said that they would go with whatever All India Muslim Personal Board would decide. “We all know the important role that Rajeev Dhavan has played in this case. He will continue to play an important role. In fact, after the verdict, he had offered to file a review petition if the Muslim parties wanted to pursue the case. AIMPLB will be filing the case soon. Jamiat has decided to go alone,” said Arif Ali, JIH secretary-general.

When Farooqui was asked if Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was changing its lawyer due to pressure from the government, he refused to speculate or comment.