The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to list a petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute for urgent hearing. The plea sought to enforce his fundamental right to worship at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, PTI reported.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud asked him to mention the matter “later on”. Swamy, however, contended that “later on” was subjective and said he would mention his plea in the top court again after 15 days.

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In March, the Supreme Court had said that only original parties to the dispute should be allowed to submit arguments in the case. It had also disallowed Swamy from intervening in the case.

But in April, the court had considered the BJP leader’s submission that his right to worship at the site should be considered more important than the property rights of the rival parties to the civil litigation. “As we are not inclined to permit the intervention application, the writ petition filed by the applicant [Swamy] shall stand revived and it shall be dealt with by the appropriate bench in accordance with law,” the court had said.

The dispute

On December 6, 1992, lakhs of kar sevaks demolished the Babri Masjid, claiming that the land on which the mosque stood was the birthplace of Ram. This triggered communal riots across the country. The leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, including LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, led the movement to demolish the mosque.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing appeals against the 2010 judgment of the Allahabad High Court, which divided the disputed plot among the Sunni Waqf Board, a Hindu organisation called the Nirmohi Akhara, and Ram Lalla or infant Ram, who is represented by the Hindu Mahasabha. The High Court gave the verdict while hearing the title suit to determine whether Hindus or Muslims own the land where the Babri Masjid once stood.