Highlights

3.29 pm ISTSC asks why a title dispute be heard by a 7-judge bench
3.01 pm ISTSunni Waqf Board wants hearing by a larger Constitution Bench
2.46 pm ISTKapil Sibal representing Sunni Waqf Board
2.29 pm IST‘Hawan’ organised in Ayodhya for construction of Ram temple
2.11 pm ISTAll pleadings are not complete, Sibal to SC
2.07 pm ISTSupreme Court begins hearing in Ayodhya dispute case
12.44 pm ISTOwaisi slams Bhagwat over his Ram temple remark
12.38 pm ISTConstruction of Ram Temple to begin soon: Subramanian Swamy
12.33 pm ISTYogi Adityanath govt submits English translation of exhibits, documents
12.30 pm ISTKnow who represents whom in Ayodhya case
12.28 pm ISTShia Central Waqf Board of UP comes with solution, Sunnis reject
12.25 pm ISTSwamy attempts to raise Hindus’ right of religion

A model of Ram Temple kept at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s headquarters in Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has started final hearing in the long-standing Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute on Tuesday. A specially constituted bench of chief justice Dipak Misra and justices Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer began hearing into a total of 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgement of the Allahabad high court in four civil suits. The high court had then ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acre area at Ayodhya among the parties—the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the Lord Ram Lalla.
3.29 pm IST SC asks why a title dispute be heard by a 7-judge benchWaqf Board, Babri Action Committee also say they may boycott proceedings if hearing begins today. The Supreme Court questions why a title dispute should be heard by a seven-judge bench.Also read | Can Ayodhya become a symbol of our coexistence?Petitioners are pleading in the Supreme Court for reasonable time to translate, file and serve the copies of all the exhibits and relevant documents, which were filed before the Allahabad High Court bench at Lucknow. (ANI)
3.01 pm IST Sunni Waqf Board wants hearing by a larger Constitution BenchKapil Sibal told the Supreme Court that whenever this matter is heard, there are serious repercussions outside court and to preserve the decorum of law and order, and that he personally requests court to take this matter up on 15 July 2019, once all the pleadings are complete. (ANI)CNN-News18 report also says that the Sunni Waqf Board wants hearing by a larger Constitution Bench.
2.46 pm IST Kapil Sibal representing Sunni Waqf BoardKapil Sibal, who is representing Sunni Waqf Board, has demanded final hearing to be held in July 2019, after the General Elections, according to CNN-News18. The Supreme Court, however, has rejected the demand.Earlier, Sibal raised doubts over assertions of ASG Mehta that how come more than 19,000 pages of documents can be filed in such short time. Sibal told the apex court that he and other petitioners have not been served relevant documents of pleadings. (ANI)
2.29 pm IST ‘Hawan’ organised in Ayodhya for construction of Ram temple
'Hawan' organised in #Ayodhya for construction of Ram temple pic.twitter.com/GadKFXVXZF
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 5, 2017
2.11 pm IST All pleadings are not complete, Sibal to SCSenior advocate Kapil Sibal is reading out in SC the details of exhibits filed by the contesting defendants before the Allahabad High Court, reports ANI. Sibal told the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court that all these exhibits are not filled before this court. He submitted, all the pleadings are not complete, ANI adds.Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, representing the State of Uttar Pradesh rebutted all the averments of Kapil Sibal. Mehta, told SC that all the related documents and requisite translation copies are on record, ANI adds.
2.07 pm IST Supreme Court begins hearing in Ayodhya dispute caseSupreme Court has commenced hearing in the Ayodhya dispute case.
12.44 pm IST Owaisi slams Bhagwat over his Ram temple remarkAIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday criticised Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat for his comment that only a Ram temple would be built at the disputed site in Ayodhya. Owaisi said Bhagwat had no authority to make such an “announcement”. “Who gave permission to Mohan Bhagwat that he announced in ‘Dharm Sansad’ that only a Ram temple would be built there and nothing else? Who is Mohan Bhagwat? “If you are saying so to intimidate us, remember that we cannot be intimidated,” the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad said. Speaking at a congregation of Hindu saints, mutt heads and VHP leaders at the ‘Dharm Sansad’ (parliament of religion) at Udupi in Karnataka late last month, Bhagwat had said only a temple would come up at the site and not any other structure. (PTI)
12.38 pm IST Construction of Ram Temple to begin soon: Subramanian SwamyBJP’s Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy on Monday affirmed that the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya would begin soon and it would be ready to receive devotees by next Diwali. “I have seen that our pleas are stronger than the opposition. They were defeated in the Allahabad High Court. They have now filed an appeal but they did not present new facts. So, I believe that we will win the court battle,” he said.(PTI)
12.33 pm IST Yogi Adityanath govt submits English translation of exhibits, documentsThe Yogi Adityanath government has submitted English translation of exhibits and documents likely to be relied upon, as these were in eight different languages.The top court had on 11 August asked the UP government to complete within 10 weeks the translation of the evidence recorded for adjudication of the title dispute in the high court. It had said it would not allow the matter to take any shape other than the civil appeals and would adopt the same procedure as was done by the high court. (PTI)
12.30 pm IST Know who represents whom in Ayodhya caseA battery of high profile lawyers including senior advocates K. Parasaran and C.S. Vaidyanathan and advocate Saurabh Shamsheri will appear for Lord Ram Lalla, the deity, and additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta will represent the Uttar Pradesh government.Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Anoop George Chaudhari, Rajeev Dhavan and Sushil Jain will represent other parties including All India Sunni Waqf Board and Nirmohi Akhara. (PTI)
12.28 pm IST Shia Central Waqf Board of UP comes with solution, Sunnis rejectEarlier, a sect of Muslims, under the banner of Shia Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh, had approached the court offering a solution that a mosque could be built in a Muslim-dominated area at a “reasonable distance” from the disputed site in Ayodhya. However, its intervention was opposed by the All India Sunni Waqf Board which had claimed that judicial adjudication between the two sects had already been done in 1946 by declaring the mosque, which was demolished on 6 December 1992, as one which belongs to the Sunnis. (PTI)
12.25 pm IST Swamy attempts to raise Hindus’ right of religionBJP leader Subramanian Swamy, an intervenor in the matter, had attempted to raise the issue of fundamental right of religion of the Hindus under Article 25 of the Constitution. Recently a group of civil rights activists also moved the apex court seeking intervention in the Ayodhya dispute and urged it to consider the issue saying it is not just a dispute over property but has several other aspects which would have far-reaching effects on the “secular fabric of the country”.