SC to hear appeals in Ayodhya case from Feb 8 on daily basis
New Delhi, Dec 5: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will resume final hearing of appeals challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict on Ramjanmabhumi-Babri Masjid case from February 8 next year on a daily basis.
The special bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Deepak Misra, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S Abdul Nazeer began hearing of the total 13 appeals challenging the 2010 Allahabad HC judgement in four civil suits.
The apex court began the final hearing in the Ram Janmabhumi-Babri Masjid dispute case just a day before the 25th anniversary of the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya by lakhs of Karsevaks gathered there from all over the country.
The Allahabad High Court in its judgement of September 30, 2010, ruled that the disputed land of 2.77 acres be divided among the three parties – the Sunni Wakf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the presiding deity Ram Lalla Virajman.
As the SC Bench assembled to hear the case, Kapil Sibal, representing Sunni Wakf Board told the court that a total number of 19,590 documents were to be filed in the apex court which was incomplete.
His submission was contested by the Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Uttar Pradesh, who rebutted all remarks by Sibal. He told the court that all the related documents and requisite translation copies were on record.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan, who is also representing Sunni Wakf Board along with Sibal and Dushyant Dave, submitted that the matter be referred to a larger bench of the apex court.
Kapil Sibal again pleaded that whenever the Ayodhya case was heard, it evoked serious repercussions outside the court. He requested the court to defer the case till July 15, 2019 in order to preserve the law and order decorum, once all the pleadings are complete and the general elections are over. He also sought reason from the court for giving an urgent hearing to the case.
The Supreme Court said that it agreed that the suit is not an ordinary one, but “it has to start somewhere”.
Around 3 pm the court stopped hearing to take stock of the documents filed and not filed and fixed February 8, 2018 as next date for resuming the hearing on a daily basis. The court directed advocates on record of the appeals to sit together and ensure that all documents are filed and numbered, PTI reported.
This statement attracted strong reactions from Muslim leaders like Asaduddin Owaisi who contested Bhagwat’s statement on the issue. Senior RSS functionary and Patron of Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) Indresh Kumar too said that the atmosphere in the country is moving towards resolution of this vexed issue and we should wait for the Supreme Court verdict.