The Supreme Court will hear the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case at 10.30 am on Friday, Bar and Bench reported.
A mediation panel set up by the court submitted its interim report in a sealed cover to the top court registry on Monday, PTI quoted unidentified officials as saying. The top court is likely take up this report, according to NDTV.
A five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief justice Ranjan Gogoi, and Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer will hear the matter, PTI reported.
The top court had set up the three-member panel of mediators in March to hold deliberations with the concerned parties and come up with a decision by May 3. Retired Supreme Court judge FMI Kalifulla is the head of the panel, which also includes spiritual leader Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.
The land in Ayodhya has been disputed for several years now, with both Hindu and Muslim groups claiming their right to it. In 2010, the Allahabad High Court ordered a three-way division of the land on which the Babri Masjid stood before it was demolished in 1992 by Hindutva activists. The court divided the land equally between the Nirmohi Akhara, the Sunni Wakf Board and the representative for the deity Ram Lalla.
Last month, the Nirmohi Akhara filed a plea in the court opposing the Centre’s move to transfer excess land around the disputed site to its original owners. The land was acquired by the government in 1994. The Centre had moved the Supreme Court in January, seeking the court’s permission to return the acquired land at the site to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, or the Ram Birthplace Trust.
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