NEW DELHI, Oct 29:
Declining an urgent hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute case, the Supreme Court today fixed the politically sensitive issue for first week of January before an “appropriate bench” and left a decision on the timeline to it, sparking demands for an ordinance for construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site.
The order by a three-Judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi triggered a chorus of demands from within the BJP and various Sangh Parivar outfits that the Centre bring an Ordinance or legislation in the Winter session of Parliament for early construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls without waiting for the Apex Court verdict.
However, Congress and Muslim groups wanted all stakeholders to wait for the verdict.
Observing that the Apex Court has its “own priorities”, the CJI said the future course of hearing on multiple appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute will be decided by the “appropriate bench” that will be constituted.
“We will fix the date of hearing of the Ayodhya dispute case before the appropriate bench in first week of January,” said the bench, which also comprised Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph. (PTI)
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