The final hearing of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case further postponed on Tuesday, February 26, as the Supreme Court gave eight weeks' time for verification of the translation of the documents and also suggested mediation between the parties, saying the could only decide on property and what it was looking at was "a possibility of healing relationships".
A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which was expected to name a date and draw up the schedule of the hearings, told the parties to give mediation another shot meanwhile. This time, the court suggested that it would monitor the mediation efforts.
The bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi also comprised Justices D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer.
The CJI also pointed out that time of eight weeks, which would be consumed by the parties in vetting the translated documents, could be utilised for mediation.
The suggestion was not accepted by the lawyers appearing for the Hindu parties.
However, those appearing for the Muslim parties accepted it noting that the mediation for the resolution of the dispute and regular hearing on the petition challenging 2010 Allahabad High Court judgement will go on concurrently.
Meanwhile, a CJI led bench did not pass formal orders to this effect. It said it would pass the final order only on Tuesday next i.e. March 5.
The court also made it clear that the mediation efforts should be confidential and nothing to be discussed in the media.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, has made it clear that while the government was ready to "make all efforts", no decision could be made until the judicial process is over. "We have said in our BJP manifesto that a solution would be found to this issue under the ambit of the Constitution," PM Modi has said in his interview on New Year's day.
