NEW DELHI: After a gap of seven years, the Supreme Court is all set to hear the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri masjid case on August 11. The case will be heard by a three judge bench.
In March this year, the Supreme Court had suggested that the matter be resolved outside of court and had said that the case was sensitive and sentimental and asked all the parties to sit together and attempt to sort it out. It had also said it would appoint a mediator if out-of-court negotiations fail.
On July 21, the Supreme Court had agreed to list the matter for hearing soon, after BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a petition. He had asked for urgent listing of the case highlighting that the main appeals against the Allahabad High Court have been pending for seven years in the apex court. Swamy also said that a separate petition had earlier been filed by him seeking enforcement of his right to worship without much hassle at the site.
A three-judge Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had in September 2010 gave an unanimous decision that Lord Ram was born under the central dome of the makeshift temple and Hindus have right to worship there.
The Supreme Court had stayed implementation of the high court decision soon after on an appeal by Muslim bodies.
The appeals filed by the Sunni Waqf Board and other parties five years ago challenge the 2010 verdict of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad HC.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had in 2010 ruled a three-way division of the 2.77-acre area at the disputed site in Uttar Pradesh.
The three-judge bench, by a 2:1 majority, had said the land be partitioned equally among three parties, the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and ‘Ram Lalla’.
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, belonged to the Sunni Central Waqf Board or to the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha.
Earlier, on the basis of a CBI chargesheet filed on October 8, 1993, the special CBI court had on May 31 charged BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and others with criminal conspiracy. They had allegedly expressed their intention to construct a temple.