Things not going as per schedule: CJI

The Supreme Court on Friday expressed its dissatisfaction over the counsels not adhering to the agreed timeframe to wrap up arguments in the Ayodhya title dispute.

A Constitution bench comprising five judges and headed by the Chief Justice is conducting the hearing on the matter.

As senior advocate Shekhar Naphade appeared for a Muslim party, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said in a huff that “Things are not going as per our schedule! We are hard pressed for time.”

The Chief Justice had queried Naphade on the time require to complete the argument, as the court was scheduled to hear the matter till 1 p.m. Naphade replied that he had already argued for 45 minutes, and he would require at least an hour or a bit more to wrapup his arguments on the matter.

He was arguing on res judicata, a matter that has been adjudicated by a competent court and therefore may not be pursued further by the same parties. Earlier in the day senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, part of the Muslim legal team, completed her arguments on the Archaeological Survey of India report.

The Chief Justice got up from the bench with 15 minutes to lunch. According to lawyers, the bench had expected Naphade to conclude his arguments.

“Although, it appeared that Chief Justice may sit for bit longer and allow the arguing senior advocate to complete his argument, but the reversed happened,” said a lawyer on the condition of anonymity.

Referring to the ASI report of 2003 on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site, the apex court said that the report was not an "ordinary opinion" as the archaeologists were acting on behalf of the Allahabad High Court to give their views on the excavated materials.