The Ayodhya Land title dispute case could soon be back in the Supreme Court, as one of the petitioners of the civil suit, has approached the Apex Court for an early hearing request.
Gopal Singh Visharad, one among those who had filed the civil suit over the Ayodhya land title, approached the court on Tuesday for an early hearing. He said that the mediators appointed by the top court earlier this year had not been able to make much progress.
Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who was heading a bench of judges, has agreed to look into the request.
A three-member mediation panel was set up by the Supreme Court in March 2019 for the mediation process. The committee of three is headed by retired judge FM Khalifullah and includes spiritual guru and founder of Art of Living foundation, Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior advocate and renowned mediator, Sriram Panchu. The committee is responsible to work out possibilities for a negotiated settlement to the dispute.
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In May 2019, Justice FM Khalifullah asked for some more time from the Supreme Court. The deadline now is August 15, 2019.
Gopal Singh Visharad’s request to the top court is in line with the ruling BJP and the Uttar Pradesh government’s push for an early decision.
Except the Nirmohi Akhara, the Uttar Pradesh government and the Hindu parties, had earlier opposed the formation of the committee. The Muslim side in the dispute, however, had welcomed the top court’s recommendation.
The judges had, however, explained that they wanted to give mediation a chance.
The top court is hearing petitions challenging a 2010 Allahabad High Court order that trifurcated the 2.77-acre-site between the Nirmohi Akhara, the Sunni Central Waqf Board, and Ram Lalla. The court is also considering a petition by the Centre, which wants to release 67.7 acres of land acquired in 1993 around the site — except for .303 acres on which the actual disputed structure stood — to its original owners.