Supreme Court constitutes five-judge Constitution bench for Ayodhya

Supreme Court

A five-Judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has been constituted to hear the title suit in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid Ayodhya case, which will begin hearing on January 10.

The others in the bench will be Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice D.Y. Chandrchud according to a notice issued by the Additional Registrar (Listing) on Tuesday.

Last week the CJI had said that the long-disputed case would be posted before an appropriate bench.

The dispute is over 2.7 acres of land in Ayodhya on which the Babri Masjid stood until it was razed on December 6, 1992 by some Kar Sevaks.

In 2010, the Allahabad High Court had divided the disputed land into three parts for each of the parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

In September last year, the Supreme Court refused to reconsider its observations in a separate, 1994 judgement, stating that a mosque was not integral to Islam. The issue came up during the hearing of the Ayodhya case.

In November, the top court rejected the Uttar Pradesh government's appeal for an early hearing of the 14 petitions in the case. "We have our own priorities. Whether hearing would take place in January, March or April would be decided by an appropriate bench," the court said.

Despite pressure from the NDA ally Shiv Sena and various groups, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his interview with ANI on Tuesday, said that the government is waiting for a legal resolution.

"Let the judicial process be over. After the judicial process is over, whatever be our responsibility as a government, we are ready to make all efforts," PM Modi said.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates