Ayodhya litigant seeks CJI's impeachment, writes to PM

Ahead of a Supreme Court hearing Friday in the Ayodhya dispute, a mahant who says he is a party to the case has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

In a letter that is also addressed to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and BJP president Amit Shah, Mahant Dharam Das has accused the Chief Justice of India of showing disinterest in the title suite.

The apex court on October 29 had said an appropriate bench will decide in January the schedule of the hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case.

It also turned down a plea for an urgent hearing.

Dharam Das represents Ram Janmabhoomi Nirman Samiti, which seeks the handover of the disputed site in Ayodhya for the construction of a Ram temple.

The Babri mosque which stood at the site was demolished in 1992.

"If the Chief Justice can't put the 70-year-old case on priority, then what is the use of such a Chief Justice? We don't have faith in him anymore and that is why we want him removed from this case, he told reporters.

The delay by the Supreme Court in hearing the case has led to a clamour by right-wing organisations for legislation allowing the construction of the Ram temple.

The matter is listed for Friday before a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul.

It is likely to constitute a three-judge bench for hearing 14 appeals filed against a 2010 Allahabad High Court judgement that had ordered the partition of the 2.77-acre piece of land among the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.