BackSC to sit an hour extra to hear Ayodhya case on 23 September
Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday while hearing the case had said, 'let us make a joint effort to complete it by October 18'CJI Gogoi retires on 17 November, which means that if the parties stick to the schedule, it will give the bench a full month to draft the judgment
PremiumThe Supreme Court on Friday said it will sit an hour extra to hear the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case on 23 September.
On the 28th day of hearing of the case, the five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising of Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer told the counsel for both the Hindu and Muslim parties that it has decided to rise at 5 pm instead of 4 pm on Monday, which is the scheduled time to wrap up the day's proceedings.
"We can sit for extra one hour on Monday (September 23)," the bench said while hearing the decades-old politically sensitive land dispute.
Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday while hearing the case had said, "let us make a joint effort to complete it by October 18." He had added that the court is ready to sit an hour extra everyday and even on Saturdays to complete the hearing, if needed.
On the 26th day of the day-to-day hearing, all parties had submitted a tentative schedule for their arguments, following a request by the court. CJI Gogoi retires on 17 November, which means that if the parties stick to the schedule, it will give the bench a full month to draft the judgment and pronounce the verdict in a politically sensitive case that has remained unresolved for over 25 years. With the 18 October deadline in the foresight, the court has decided to sit for an extra one hour.
So far, 14 appeals have been filed before the Supreme Court against the 2010 Allahabad high court judgment, which said 22.7 acre of the disputed land should be equally divided among the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
On 6 December 1992, Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque, was demolished by Hindu groups who want a Ram temple built at the site.
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