The Supreme Court asked for a status report in the ongoing mediation process in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid Ayodhya land dispute case within a week.
The top court passed the order after petitioner Gopal Visharad argued that mediation is not yielding any result. Senior Advocate K Parasaran, who appeared for Visharad, said the suit by Visharad was filed in 1950 and the court should dispose it of early.
Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhawan, appearing for Muslim organisations, opposed the plea. He argued that the ongoing mediation is a serious process and should be allowed to be completed.
A five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, requested former apex court judge and retired Justice FMI Kalifulla, chairperson of the three-member mediation panel, to submit the report by July 18. The court would pass its further orders the same day.
The top court on May 10 granted time till August 15 for the mediation panel to try and come up with a solution. At the time, the Uttar Pradesh government had opposed the idea. The Nirmohi Akhara and Sunni Waqf Board, among the number of parties in the dispute, had agreed.
The bench said after perusing the latest status report, if it feels that the mediation process ought not to be concluded, the main Ayodhya dispute case will be heard by the apex court on a day-to-day basis from July 25.
(With inputs from PTI)
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