The Supreme Court on Friday referred the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid land dispute case for mediation. A five-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, passed the order and said that there would a panel of three mediators.
The panel of mediators will be headed by Justice (Retired) F M I Kalifulla, and comprise of popular spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu. The top court also said that mediation will be held in Faizabad and mediators can start work within a week. The mediators can co-opt for more persons, if required in the process, it observed. The bench passed the order, after hearing from all the respective petitioners and respondents in the case.
It also asked the panel to complete the process in eight weeks. The bench also banned reporting of mediation proceedings in the media.Earlier, a three-judge bench had in September last week, dismissed a plea, seeking to refer the issue of whether Mosques are essential for practicing Islam, to a larger bench.The other four judges in the apex court, which passed the order, include Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer. Apart from the lawyers, litigants and parties involved, several Sadhus and as many as 100 journalists were present inside the Courtroom, to witness the caise.
Swami Chakrapani, who is one of the interveners in the case, said, ‘We want justice from SC and this is a temple of justice.’
Many lawyers, who were not even remotely connected to the case, went on to say that even they were ‘expecting this order of the process of mediation’.
UNI
