Ayodhya case hearing on Feb 26

NEW DELHI: Hearings by a fivejudge Constitution Bench in the title suit of the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-babri Masjid land dispute is likely to begin on February 26, according to a notice by the Supreme Court’s additional registrar posted on its official website on Wednesday.

The notice said the matter would be heard by a bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi, and comprising justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer.

On January 27, the SC cancelled a scheduled January 29 hearing because justice Bobde was not available on the day.

The five-judge bench was reconstituted after justice UU Lalit, on January 10, recused himself from hearing the matter after it was pointed out to him that he has in the past appeared in a contempt case related to the title suit.

Justice NV Ramana was also replaced on the bench.

Justices Bhushan and Nazeer, who came into the bench instead of justices Lalit and Ramana, were part of an earlier bench headed by former CJI Dipak Misra that declined to refer an old judgement, given in the context of whether mosque is integral to Islam or not, to a larger bench.

Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against a 2010 Allahabad high court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre disputed land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally between three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhada and Ram Lalla, the child deity.

The judgment delivered on September 27, 2018 had a dissenting view by justice S Abdul Nazeer, who said the question raised required a detailed consideration.