Judge unavailable, SC cancels January 29 hearing on Ayodhya land dispute

The Supreme Court on Sunday cancelled its January 29 hearing of the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute case as a member of the five-judge Constitution bench won't be available.

"Take notice that due to non-availability of Justice S A Bobde on January 29, 2019 (Tuesday), sitting of Constitution bench in Chief Justice's court, comprising the Chief Justice [Ranjan Gogoi], Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer, stands cancelled. "Therefore, Constitution bench mater will not be taken up for hearing," said a notice issued by the Supreme Court registry.

The five-judge bench was re-constituted on January 25 after Justice U U Lalit, who was a member of the original bench, recused himself from hearing the matter.

Justice N V Ramana was excluded from the bench re-constituted after Lalit’s recusal. Besides Gogoi, the new bench comprises justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer. In the fresh bench, justices Bhushan and Nazeer made a comeback to hear the matter.

Both of them were part of an earlier bench headed by then Dipak Misra, who has since retired as chief justice of India. 

Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among three parties: the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.