Ayodhya Mediation Panel Moves SC, Seeks View on Resumption of Talks to Resolve Issue

It filed a memorandum in the SC in which it gave details of letters by the Waqf Board and the Akhara requesting resumption of talks

New Delhi: The Supreme Court-appointed Ayodhya mediation panel, headed by former SC judge FMI Kalifullah, on Monday moved the apex court seeking its view on ‘requests’ by the Sunni Waqf Board and Nirvani Akhara for the settlement of the decades-long land dispute case.

The panel, also comprising spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar and Sriram Panchu, was set up by the SC to try and negotiate a settlement between the two parties. However, on August 1, the panel submitted in the top court that no settlement could be reached, after which the SC ordered day-to-day hearings, which started from August 6, in the case.

Moving a memorandum in the registry of the apex court, the panel requested that the same be placed before the five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, which is holding day-to-day hearings in the case. Besides the CJI, the bench also comprises Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer.

In the memorandum, the panel gave details of letters by the Waqf Board and the Akhara requesting resumption of talks.

The top court had on March 8, set up the panel and directed them to hold meetings with the two sides to settle the issue. The mediation was to be completed in eight weeks in Faizabad, near Ayodhya.

The Ayodhya land dispute case revolves around the 2.77-acre land, which, on the one hand, the Hindu side says was the birth site of Lord Rama; the Muslim side, on the other hand, was the site of the Babri Masjid, which was demolished on December 6, 1992, triggering communal riots across the country.