New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea to defer the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case until July 2019, after the next Lok Sabha election. The court scheduled hearing to begin on February 8, 2019.

The final hearing in the case was taken up a day before the 25th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya. A special bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S. Abdul Nazeer sat to hear 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgement of the Allahabad high court in four civil suits.

The top court in Uttar Pradesh had ruled that the disputed 2.77 acre land be divided into three, between the the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the deity Ram Lalla.

As the court met, the Sunni Wakf Board sought a deference of the final hearing till after 2019 Lok Sabha election. The court rejected that and posted the case to February 8, keeping time to sift through documents.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal, representing the Sunni Wakf Board, said the court must give a reason for giving an urgent hearing. Sibal said a total number of 19,590 documents were to be filed in the apex court.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, vehemently opposed contentions that the pleadings were not complete and asserted that everything has been complied with and the cases were ripe for hearing.

The court said it agreed this not an ordinary case. “But need to start somewhere,” the judges said. The apex court said this would be the last opportunity for the petitioners to get papers ready and no delays would be allowed after this.

The Waqf Board and Babri Action Committee wanted the case to be heard by a five-judge or seven-judge Constitution bench. The Supreme Court asked why a title dispute should be heard by a seven-judge bench.

The BJP attacked the Congress party after Sibal pleaded for a deference. “Rahul ji is visiting temples in Gujarat but on the other hand, Kapil Sibal is being used to delay Ram Janmbhoomi case. Rahul ji should tell us what his view on this is,” BJP chief Amit Shah said. “I think the Congress has shown two faces. We want a fast hearing and we want a Ram temple soon.” “This is a ploy by the Congress to link the Ram Mandir issue with elections,” said BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao.