New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Friday its ruling on whether to refer the Ayodhya land dispute case to mediators for amicable settlement.
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday reserved the order after hearing various contesting parties. Hindu bodies, except Nirmohi Akhara, have opposed the suggestion of the apex court to refer the issue for mediation, while Muslim bodies have supported it.
Nirmohi Akhara, in fact, has suggested the names of retired justices Kurian Joseph, AK Patnaik and GS Singhvi as mediators; the Hindu Mahasabha faction of Swami Chakrapani, on the other hand, has proposed the names of former CJIs — J S Khehar and Dipak Misra — and Justice A K Patnaik (who retired on Wednesday).The apex court in its Wednesday hearing had observed that primarily the issue is not about 1,500 square feet of land, but about religious sentiments.
The bench had said it was conscious of the gravity and impact of the issue on “public sentiment” and also on “body politics of the country”. Besides the Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha, Mahant Suresh Das and the counsel appearing for deity Ram Lalla Virajman have opposed the court-appointed mediation on the ground that such exercise in the past had failed.
Noting that all sides are not agreeable to its proposal of mediation as a healing remedy, the Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi can invoke its power under Section 89 of the Civil Procedure Code for alternate dispute mechanism.
The court had asked all parties to suggest names for incamera mediation. The Hindu Mahasabha’s counsel Vishnu Shankar Jain said they had a clear stand that mediation cannot happen since it is Lord Ram’s land and public notice will have to be issued. “If a public notice is issued, every individual will be called for mediation and that will drag the case for a long time,” he said.
