The Ayodhya land dispute case has been listed for hearing before a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Friday.
The three-member mediation committee constituted by the Supreme Court, which was tasked with exploring the possibility of an amicable settlement in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, is learnt to have already submitted its interim report in a sealed cover. According to a PTI report, the interim report was filed with the SC Registry on 6 May.
On March 8, the Supreme Court had referred the matter to the mediation committee to explore the possibility of an amicable settlement. The mediation committee comprises former SC judge F M I Kalifulla, spiritual guru and Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.
The report submitted by the committee will now be studied by a five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice S A Bobde, Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S Abdul Nazeer who will then decide the future course of action.
The SC had asked the panel to hold in-camera proceedings as per the norms applicable and complete the mediation process within eight weeks. The committee had been asked to submit the progress report within four weeks.
The top court had fixed Faizabad of Uttar Pradesh, around 7 km from Ayodhya, as the seat for the mediation process in and said the state government should immediately make adequate arrangements for it.
As many as 14 appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, which had been delivered in four civil suits, that the disputed 2.77-acre Ayodhya land be partitioned equally among the three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.