New Delhi/Lucknow:
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justiceof India, will hear a petition and is expected to decide on Tuesday onwhether verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute case should be deferred ornot.
Last week, on September 23, a Supreme Court interimorder had restrained the Allahabad High Court from pronouncing theverdict in the four title suits. The verdict of the Lucknow Bench ofthe Allahabad High Court was to have been delivered a day later.
(The Ayodhya dispute: A timeline)Apetition filed before the Supreme Court by retired bureaucrat RameshChand Tripathi has sought that the verdict be deferred to allow thecontesting parties to arrive at some sort of settlement.
Butthe Central Board of Wakfs, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board andthe All-India Hindu Maha Sabha have pleaded for vacating the stay andallowing the High Court to pronounce the verdict.
"Thedifference between Mandir group and Masjid group are so diverse. That'swhy we want the judgement to be pronounced," said Anoop Chaudhri,senior lawyer for Sunni Central Board of Waqf Board, UP.
Thereare 27 respondents in the case. And a few say Tripathi's suggestion isworth considering. The Nirmohi Akhara, a key party in the suit, said itwould request the Supreme Court to ask for the verdict to be deferredfor three months to allow for a solution through negotiations.
Forthe first time the Centre is also a party to the case, and a lot coulddepend on its stand in the matter. The Attorney-General of India willrepresent the Centre.
If the Supreme Court gives a go-aheadfor verdict today, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court willhave two days to deliver the verdict. This is because one of the threejudges on the bench hearing the title suit, DV Sharma, retires onOctober 1.
The retiring judge can be given an ad hoc extension,but if that does not happen and verdict is not pronounced beforeOctober 1, arguments could have to be heard again and the verdict couldbe further delayed in the 60-year-old case.
The three-judgebench of the Supreme Court, which will hear the petition today, willcomprise of Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia, Justice Aftab Alam andJustice KS Radhakrishnan.