A Hindu pilgrim touches in obeisance an image of Hindu deities Rama, Sita and Lakshman in Ayodhya, India, Nov 9, 2019. (RAJESH KUMAR SINGH / AP)

NEW DELHI — India's Supreme Court Thursday rejected all review petitions into Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute verdict, officials said.

The top court rejected all 18 petitions seeking a review of its Nov 9 verdict on the dispute

The top court rejected all 18 petitions seeking a review of its Nov 9 verdict on the dispute.

The petitions were heard by a five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde in-chamber and not in open court, as is normal procedure.

The bench rejected all 18 review petitions, out of which nine had been filed by parties who were part of the earlier litigation and the other nine were filed by third parties. The petitioners included the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

"The bench held that the review petitions were lacking in merits," an official said.

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Last month a five-member bench, headed by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, delivered a unanimous verdict in favor of Hindus by granting them disputed land where the Babri Masjid (Muslim mosque) once stood. As per the verdict, Muslims will be granted five acres of land at a separate "prominent" location in the temple town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

The demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 triggered countrywide communal riots between Hindus and Muslims and claimed over 2,000 lives mostly Muslims.

Many Hindus believe that the mosque was built over the birthplace of Hindu god - Lord Ram.

Muslims are a minority in India, while Hindus form majority.

Muslims say they offered prayers at the mosque until December 1949 when some Hindus placed an idol of Ram in the mosque and began to worship there.

Over the decades since, the two religious groups have gone to court many times over who should control the site.