NEW SC BENCH TO BE SET UP BY JAN 10 TO HEAR AYODHYA CASE

NEW DELHI: A new three-judge bench which will be formed by the Chief Justice of India before January 10 to hear the Ram Janmabhoomi-babri Masjid case and any further orders on the land dispute in Ayodhya will be passed by the bench, the Supreme Court said on Friday.

“Further orders in the matter will be passed on January 10 by the appropriate bench, as may be constituted,” a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and justice SK Kaul said. The new judges will, on the next date of hearing, fix a schedule for the decades-old title dispute and decide whether it should be taken up on a daily basis.

The hearing on Friday lasted barely 10 seconds. Lawyers on both sides got no opportunity to address the court.

As the case was called out in the morning, the CJI said: “This is the Ram Janmabhoomi case, please listen to the order.”

Senior lawyers Harish Salve and Rajeev Dhawan, appearing for opposite parties, could not make a submission as justice Gogoi dictated the order and went on to the next matter on the agenda.

The case was expected to be heard in October, but the court pushed its hearing to January.

Hindu organisations claim that the disputed site in Ayodhya is the birthplace of Ram and that a mosque, the Babri Masjid, was constructed in the 16th century on the ruins of a temple that was demolished by the Mughals.