SC rejects plea to postpone Ayodhya hearing |
The Supreme Court on December 5, 2017 thwarted a determined attempt by Sunni Waqf Board and members of the minority community to postpone till July 2019 the hearing in the case for determination of ownership of the 2.77 acre Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi disputed land, and fixed February 8 for start of day-to-day hearing. The senior counsel appearing for minority community members mentioned the political ramifications of the seven-decade-old case and claimed an alleged "agenda" and "bias" for the "hurry" being shown in deciding it while making a fervent plea to stall hearing by seeking reference of the case to a five- or seven-judge bench. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra kept the option of referring the matter to a larger bench open and said if and when such a constitutional question arose during the arguments, the court would take a call. The bench of CJI Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer witnessed stormy scenes as a troika of senior advocates — Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan and Dushyant Dave -- took different routes to build pressure for adjournment. The court had, on August 11, fixed December 5 for arguments with a caveat that no adjournment would be granted.
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