Court refuses to defer Ayodhya verdict

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court today turned down a plea to defer the verdict in the 60-year-old Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit and direct an out-of-court amicable settlement to the dispute.

A three-judge bench rejected the petition filed by one Ramesh Chandra Tripathi ,saying there was no merit in the application. The court will pronounce its verdict on September 24. However, it will consider a few other petitions seeking deferment of the verdict in the next few days. The bench, comprising Justice S U Khan, judges D V Sharma and Sudhir Agarwal, also decided to impose a fine. Although Justice Agarwal proposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh, the bench decided to announce the amount later.

The judges asked the parties concerned whether they were interested in an out-of-court compromise, but none showed interest. Following this, the court rejected the petition for deferring the judgement.

Meanwhile, Nirmohi Akhara, one of the main parties to the Ayodhya title dispute, today filed a fresh petition before the High Court, seeking time till September 27 to explore an out-of-court settlement. The application was filed by lawyer R L Verma, on behalf of Mahant Raja Ramchandra. Gopal Singh Visharad, Nirmohi Akhara, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board and Ram Lalla Virajman are the main parties to the title dispute.

The Nirmohi Akhara’s efforts to seek an out-of-court settlement was fiercely contested by the Vishva Hindu Parishad. The Sunni Central Board of Waqfs and the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, through their lawyers Zafaryab Jilani and H S Jain, respectively, filed objections to the deferment petitions.