Supreme Court to hear appeals in Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute today

The Supreme Court will hear the petitions in the historical Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case on Friday.

The apex court comprising three judge bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer will hear the appeals challenging the Allahabad High Court order on the disputed land.  

Earlier on July 21, the matter was mentioned before Chief Justice J S Khehar by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy who sought early adjudication of the decades-old dispute.

Swamy had said the main appeals against the Allahabad High Court order are pending for the last seven years in the apex court and these required urgent hearing.

He had also said that a separate petition had earlier been filed by him seeking enforcement of his right to worship without much hassle at the site.

The BJP leader had told the court that he has been allowed by the apex court to intervene in the matter and is seeking expeditious disposal of the cases.

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On August 8, the Shia Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh on told the Supreme Court that a mosque could be built in a Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the disputed site in Ayodhya.

The Board also told the apex court in an affidavit that the Babri Masjid site was its property and only it was entitled to hold negotiations for an amicable settlement of the dispute.

The 30-page affidavit assumes significance as it has been filed within few days of the apex court agreeing to fast track the hearing on a batch of appeals challenging the Allahabad High Court verdict on the land dispute in the case.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had in 2010 ruled a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acres area at the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.

The three-judge bench of the high court, by a 2:1 majority, had said the land be partitioned equally among three parties—the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

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(With PTI Inputs)