Ayodhya solution brightens with CJI Sets
October 18 Target
New Delhi: The possibility of a verdict in
the protracted Ram janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute by mid-November 2019 brightened
up on Wednesday, 18 September 2019 with the Supreme Court fixing the deadline
of October 18 for completion of arguments in the case.
The Ayodhya Bench in the Supreme
Court is headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who retires on November
17. If the judgment is not delivered before his retirement, the entire matter
would have to be heard afresh.
On Wednesday, the CJI, after
consulting the lawyers from both the sides, said he is hopeful that arguments
can conclude by October 18.
“Let us all make joint efforts to
complete it by October 18. If the need arises, we are ready to sit on Saturdays
and some extra hours on weekdays to complete it," observed Justice Gogoi.
The timeline comes a day after the
Constitution Bench had sought to know from all parties in the case about a
tentative time frame for completing their arguments.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, who
has been leading the submissions on behalf of the Muslim side, said they would
complete the arguments by the end of next week and will then take a day or two
to argue their own civil suit.
From the Hindu side, Ram Lalla Virajman's lawyers said
they will take two days while other parties this side said a couple of days
more should be enough to complete their arguments.
Subsequently, the five judges on the
Bench had a brief discussion among themselves and the deadline of October 18
was arrived at.
About a letter written by the
mediation panel to the Bench, the court said parties are free to resort to
settlement and if any settlement can be reached, it can be placed before it.
The panel had written to the Bench
after the UP Sunni Waqf Board chairman wrote to the panel for resumption of
mediation to give it one more shot. However, the Bench made it clear that the
entire settlement proceedings will remain confidential as before.
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