Supreme Court to hear Ayodhya land title dispute daily from August 6

Three-member committee failed to find a solution to the dispute through mediation, says court.

The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hold daily hearings in the Ayodhya land title dispute case from August 6 after a court-appointed panel failed to find a solution through mediation.

The top court asked the lawyers in the case to "indicate the pleadings and the evidence on which they propose to rely" so that the court registry could be prepared with the said documents for perusa, said a five member bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

On March 8, a five-member Bench of the court had decided to send the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute for mediation by a three-member team led by Justice Kalifulla. The other two members of the panel are spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Chennai-based senior advocate Sriram Panchu. A total time of eight weeks had been granted to the three-member panel for completion of the mediation proceedings. The first report had to be submitted by April 8, the court had then said.

The court had also then said that while it was conscious of the gravity of the land dispute and its outcome on the country, not giving mediation a chance would be wrong. “It is not only about property. It is about the mind, heart and healing, if possible,” the five-judge Bench had then said.

On May 10, the top court had extended the time for completion of the mediation proceedings till August 15 and said the panel of mediators was ‘optimistic’ about an amicable solution. While most Hindu religious bodies, except the Nirmohi Akhara, have opposed the suggestion to go for mediation, Muslim religious bodies have supported the idea.

The SC is also hearing a challenge against a 2010 judgment of the Allahabad High Court (HC) related to the land title dispute. Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad HC judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara, and Ram Lalla.