SC to extend hearing time on Ayodhya case by an hour daily from Monday

The Supreme Court Friday said it would sit for an extra hour next Monday to hear the Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid land dispute case.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which was hearing the decades-old politically sensitive land dispute on 28th day, told the counsel for both the Hindu and Muslim parties that it has decided to rise at 5 pm instead of 4 pm on September 23.

The scheduled time to wrap up the day's proceedings in the apex court is 4 pm.

"We can sit for extra one hour on Monday (September 23)," said the bench which also comprised Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.

Four new judges, Justices Krishna Murari, S R Bhat, V Ramasubramanian and Hrishikesh Roy, have been appointed to the apex court recently and they are expected to take oath for the office on September 23.

The apex court has set October 18 as deadline for completion of all arguments in the protracted land title dispute, a move that has raised the possibility of a verdict in the politically sensitive case in the middle of November.