NEW DELHI: In a bid to wrap up hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute by October 18 to enable the verdict in the decades-old political sensitive case before retirement of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on November 17, the 5-judge Constitution Bench on Friday announced to sit for an extra hour up to 5 PM from Monday.
"We can sit for extra one hour from Monday," said the Bench that also comprises Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer. No word, however, as yet if the Bench may also sit on Saturdays as indicated on Thursday.
The Bench wants a month to write the judgment and hence it has decided to close the hearing on October 18. It has been hearing the case for the past 28 days on a bunch of petitions challenging the Allahabad High Court's judgment in 2010, dividing the disputed land equally among three parties, including Sunni Waqf Board.
