NEW DELHI, Nov 9 (TIWN): Delivering a historic verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi–Babri Masjid land dispute in Ayodhya, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Saturday decided unanimously that Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas would get the disputed 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya for building a temple, while the Muslim side would be given 5 acres of alternative land elsewhere in Ayodhya to build a mosque.

The verdict marks another chapter in the centuries-old religious dispute that has been one of the country’s most politically sensitive issues.

The case, which has spanned centuries of religious history and languished in the legal system for almost seven decades, finally seems to have got a closure, with a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi pronouncing today’s verdict. The Bench also told the central government to formulate a scheme within three months to implement its order.

Thousands of paramilitary force and police personnel have been deployed in Ayodhya, where the Babri Masjid mosque was razed in 1992 by hardline Hindu kar sevaks.

States across the country had stepped up security and monitoring of social media posts in anticipation of the judgment. The Uttar Pradesh government had warned of severe punishment, including a jail term, for those inciting communal hatred or violence through social media posts and WhatsApp messages. They would be booked under the state’s Gangster Act and also the National Security Act, the police had said. Section 144 has also been imposed in the state in Uttar Pradesh.