A three-judge
bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia,
is hearing a petition right now and is expected to decide today on
whether verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute case should be deferred or
not.
Last week, on September 23, a Supreme Court interim order
had restrained the Allahabad High Court from pronouncing the verdict in
the four title suits. The verdict of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad
High Court was to have been delivered a day later.
(The Ayodhya dispute: A timeline)
The
petition filed before the Supreme Court by retired bureaucrat Ramesh
Chand Tripathi has sought that the verdict be deferred to allow the
contesting parties to arrive at an out-of-court settlement.
Mukul
Rohtagi who is representing Tripathi has argued that the Centre "has
acted merely as it is a receiver of the property"- a proactive stand has
to be taken by the Centre, he said.
Last week, for the first time in the 60-year-old case, the union
government was made a party to the case and its views will be presented
in court by the Attorney General.
Rohtagi argued that the Supreme Court "must experiment to come up with an innovative solution."
A
main party in the case- the Nirmohi Akhara - also wants the court to
defer the verdict by three months to allow for reconciliation. The
Akhara said it would request the Supreme Court to ask for the verdict to
be deferred for three months to allow for a solution through
negotiations.
But the Central Board of Wakfs, the All-India
Muslim Personal Law Board and the All-India Hindu Maha Sabha have
pleaded for vacating the stay and allowing the High Court to pronounce
the verdict.
"The difference between Mandir group and Masjid
group are so diverse. That's why we want the judgement to be
pronounced," said Anoop Chaudhri, senior lawyer for Sunni Central Board
of Waqf Board, UP.
There are 27 respondents in the case.
If
the Supreme Court gives a go-ahead for verdict today, the Lucknow bench
of the Allahabad High Court will have two days to deliver the verdict.
This is because one of the three judges on the bench hearing the title
suit, DV Sharma, retires on October 1.
The retiring judge can be
given an ad hoc extension, but if that does not happen and verdict is
not pronounced before October 1, arguments could have to be heard again
and the verdict could be further delayed in the 60-year-old case.
The
three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which is hearing the petition
today, comprises of Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia, Justice Aftab
Alam and Justice KS Radhakrishnan.
