SC reconstitutes 5-member Constitution Bench to hear Ayodhya land dispute

A new five-judge Constitution Bench was constituted Friday in the Supreme Court to hear on January 29 the politically sensitive Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute in Ayodhya.

The bench was re-constituted as Justice U U Lalit, who was a member of the original bench had recused himself on January 10 after expressing his disinclination to participate in the hearing any further as he had appeared as a lawyer for former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh in a connected matter "sometime in the year 1997".

The new bench comprises of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.

Justice N V Ramana, who was in the bench which last heard the matter on January 10, is not a member in the new bench.

Justices Bhushan and Nazeer are the new members in the bench.

A notice sent by the Supreme Court registry to various parties said that the Ayodhya dispute matter will be listed on Thursday, January 29, 2019, in "Chief Justice's court before the constitution bench comprising the CJI, and Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer."