New Delhi: The disputed Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri masjid land at Ayodhya "never belonged" to Nirmohi Akhara either under the law on trusteeship or due to its right as 'shebait' (devotee) of deity Ram Lalla, Muslim bodies told Supreme Court on Wednesday. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which heard the land dispute case on the 21st day, was told by senior lawyer Rajeev Dhavan, counsel for Muslim parties, that Akhara cannot overcome the legal hurdle that its 1959 lawsuit to re-claim alleged possession over the site was time-barred under the limitation law.

Akhara, which was granted one-third of the disputed 2.77 acre land by the Allahabad High Court, has said, "The 'Janmsthan' now commonly known as 'Janmabhoomi' belongs and has always belonged to it." The term 'belonging to', as per 'Nirmohi Akhara', extended limitation period to file lawsuit, Dhavan told the bench also comprising justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer. "The answer is that it (land) does not belong to them and 'Akhara' is not the owner of the property either under the English law on trusteeship or as a 'shebait'," said the senior lawyer, appearing for Sunni Waqf Board and others including original litigant M Siddiq.