The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its judgement in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case after hearing arguments from all the concerned parties.
The marathon hearing concluded after forty days, making the Ayodhya hearing as the second-longest in the history of the Supreme court after the landmark hearing in Keshavananda Bharati case which lasted for 68 days.
Reportedly, the Supreme Court has finished hearing all arguments in the Ayodhya case one hour before the set deadline. The Supreme Court has allowed the parties to submit their written notes over the next three days.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, representing the Muslim parties in the Ram Janmabhoomi – Babri Masjid land dispute case, suffered a meltdown and tore up a pictorial map showing the exact birthplace of Lord Ram during the hearings in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Read: Shia Waqf Board wants Ram Temple built, Sunni Waqf Board lawyer says ‘Hindu Taliban destroyed Babri’
The Senior advocate Vikas Singh sought to place on record the book ‘Ayodhya Revisited’ by former IPS Kishore Kunal. Senior advocate Singh is representing the Hindu Mahasabha and the book ‘Ayodhya Revisited’ talks about pre-existence of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. This was when Dhawan had a complete meltdown and it the frenzy he started tearing off papers and maps handed over to him by the Hindu Mahasabha as he strongly opposed the party in the Supreme Court.
Earlier in the afternoon, the Supreme Court witnessed a high drama on the last day of hearing after the CJI fixed 5 pm as the deadline for concluding arguments in the protracted legal battle. “Enough is enough”, had said the bench, which revised the deadline for the case from October 17 to a day earlier.
The Supreme Court is hearing a total of fourteen appeals filed against the 2010 judgment of Allahabad High Court which ordered that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among three parties – the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
Read: Shia Waqf board chief calls ‘Babri Masjid a blot to India’, says it is a ‘crime to call it a mosque’
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi had earlier asked for parties to conclude their arguments in the land dispute case to be concluded by October 17. The bench also comprises of Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer, who are hearing appeals against the September 30, 2010, verdict of the Allahabad High Court.
The Supreme Court has been carrying out day-to-day hearing of the case and the arguments were to be concluded by 18th October but then, October 17 was given the last date for arguments. The Supreme Court had earlier warned that the parties will not be given any extra day. It is speculated that the Supreme Court will deliver the judgement on or before November 17, the day CJI Ranjan Gogoi retires.
