NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute case for an extra hour from next Monday to conclude the hearing before the October 18 deadline fixed by it.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which was hearing the decades-old politically sensitive land dispute on 28th day, told the counsel for both the Hindu and Muslim parties that it has decided to rise at 5 pm instead of 4 pm, which is the scheduled time to wrap up the day's proceedings in the apex court.
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"We can sit for extra one hour from Monday (September 23)," the bench which also comprises Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer said.
The apex court has set October 18 as a deadline for completion of all arguments in the protracted land title dispute, a move that has raised the possibility of a verdict in the politically sensitive case in the middle of November.