Supreme Court To Start Final Hearings In Ayodhya Case Today: 10-Point Cheatsheet
Three judges of the Supreme Court are likely to start "final hearings" on a bunch of 13 petitions over the 2.7 acre disputed Ayodhya site that is claimed by both Hindus and Muslims.
The court was earlier expected to hold day-to-day hearing on the Ayodhya Case. (File)
New Delhi: Three judges of the Supreme Court are likely to start "final hearings" on a bunch of 13 petitions over the 2.7 acre disputed Ayodhya site that is claimed by both Hindus and Muslims. The top court's bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had earlier signalled its intention to hold the last round of hearings soon, rejecting a suggestion by senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal to defer hearings till after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. That recommendation had landed Mr Sibal, who was representing an individual in court, and the Congress in a major political row ahead of last year's elections in Gujarat.
Here are the top 10 points of the hearing in the Ayodhya Case:
The bench, also comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer, are scheduled to start the hearing at 2 pm.
The court was earlier expected to hold day-to-day hearing but this may not be immediately possible because Chief Justice Dipak Misra is already part of the Constitution Bench hearing the challenge against the Aadhaar law.
The petitions before the judges relate to the 2010 verdict of the Allahabad High Court in the title suit that had been pending for nearly six decades. The dispute before the court was whether the 2.7 acres of disputed land on which the Babri Masjid stood before it was demolished on December 6, 1992, belongs to the Sunni Central Waqf Board or to the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha.
The high court allotted two-thirds of the land to Hindus and said they could keep a makeshift temple built over the razed mosque's central dome. Both Hindu and Muslim organisations appealed to the Supreme Court, which, in March this year, advised them to settle for an out-of-court settlement.
Muslims make up about 13 per cent of India's population. Most of them are Sunni; properties owned by the community are handled by the Sunni Waqf Board which was given a third of the land in the 2010 verdict.
At the last hearing, Kapil Sibal, Dushyant Dave and Rajiv Dhawan, representing different Muslim petitioners, had argued that the hearings must be deferred as building a Ram temple at the disputed site is a part of the ruling BJP's manifesto. Chief Justice Dipak Misra had expressed "shock and surprise" at the suggestion, asserting that the judges were "not bothered about what's happening outside".
Later, the Chief Justice had also censured the senior lawyers for the manner in which they argued. "Raising voices will never be tolerated. Argue on legal principles. Raising voice shows incompetency not worthy of senior lawyers," Chief Justice Misra had said, disapproving their conduct.
Mr Sibal's comments in court had provoked a huge political controversy outside too, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking at election rallies in Gujarat why he linked the Ram temple to general elections. The BJP has accused the Congress of trying delay verdict in the case and said it firmly favours an early resolution.
Its campaign for a Ram temple in Ayodhya propelled the BJP into a major political force in the 1990s, but in the last few years, the party relegated it to the back pages of its election manifestos even in Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a saffron-clad priest who took charge after the BJP's sweep in assembly elections this year, has asserted that building a Ram temple is a key agenda.
Thousands of right-wing activists had razed the Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, claiming it was built on a temple marking the birthplace of Lord Ram, which was destroyed in the 16th century. 2,000 people were killed in the riots that followed the Babri Masjid demolition.
