Neither Celebrate Nor Protest Over Supreme Court Verdict On Ayodhya, Says Former Solicitor General

There should be neither celebration nor protest over the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya issue, former Solicitor General of India N Santosh Hegde said on Thursday.

The retired Supreme Court judge said the nation should accept the judicial pronouncement and there should be no expression of adverse opinion on that. "And on a matter of principle, as a judicial pronouncement, we must accept it... both sides," he said.

The Supreme Court is likely to deliver its verdict on the emotive Ayodhya issue before Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi retires on Nov. 17.

"Winning side also should accept gracefully; the side which loses also should accept as it is the verdict of the highest court in India. And there should be absolutely no adverse reaction, not even celebration should be there", Hegde told PTI. "There should be no celebration, there should be no protest either. It should be accepted as a pronouncement of law, it should be respected by everybody," the former Karnataka Lokayukta added.

One should respect the supremacy of law, he said. "It's not that the supremacy of law always does justice. Ultimately dispensation is done by a human being. There is always some element of error that could be there, but in the larger interest of the nation, we should learn to accept something which you may not even agree with.

That's the final view in the country, we should accept it. And that holds good for both the communities", Hegde said.