Supreme Court concludes hearing in Ayodhya case

By: Talat Mohsin

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court concluded hearing on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case and reserved the order on the case.

The case was heard by a bench of 5 judges, headed by the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. The other members included were Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachur, Ashok Bhushan and S A Zaheer. The bench heard both the Hindu and Muslim sides for 40 days. The court had finished hearing one hour before the deadline.

The hearing for the case has been going on for the past 40 days. The court has asked the parties to give written notes on relief in the next three days, that is, by 19th October.

The day to day proceedings of the case started after August 6 after the two parties could not amicably come on a settlement. After that, the court had revised the deadline for the case. The case had entered an important stage on October 14 when the court resumed the proceedings after Dussehra break.

As the pressure built upon the court to end the proceedings before deadline, the tempers ran high in the court today. Rajeev Dhavan, the senior advocate representing the Muslim council teared up a map that allegedly showed the exact birthplace of Lord Ram. The pictorial map was presented in the court by Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, who was representing the All India Hindu Mahasabha.

Dhavan had objected to Singh’s use of the map in the hearing as it was not registered evidence, and he asked the bench what should he do. The bench sarcastically told him to tear it up, which he took in its literal term and he proceeded to tear the map. Dhavan’s actions caused an uproar in court and he was asked to maintain the decorum of the court or else walk away from the hearing.