Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invoked the Ayodhya land case verdict of 2010, saying the high court decision had generated a pleasant mood in the country in spite of games played by interest groups to exploit the situation.

Allahabad High Court had ruled in 2010 that two-thirds of the land would be shared by two Hindu plaintiffs and one-third would go to the Sunni Muslim Wakf Board. The verdict was challenged in the Supreme Court.

In his Mann ki Baat address on Sunday, during which the Prime Minister made the reference to the 2010 order, Modi did not mention that the Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver its judgment on the Ayodhya land dispute by mid-November.

In the radio address, Modi said: “Friends, I remember when Allahabad High Court gave its verdict on Ram Janmabhoomi in September 2010.… Various kinds of people took to the arena! Various interest groups were playing games to take advantage of that situation in their own way.”

The Prime Minister said some of the “loudmouths and braggarts” had resorted to irresponsible talk. “But this scene continued for five days or seven days or 10 days, but the delivery of the court’s decision generated a pleasant and surprising change of mood in the country,” Modi added.

Modi thanked the “people of India, social organisations, political parties, saints, seers and leaders of all faiths” for furthering unity after the court verdict.

The Prime Minister’s stress on peace and unity has come at a time several Muslims have expressed apprehensions about the possible fallout of the Ayodhya verdict, whichever way the court rules.