A five-justice Constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled on Saturday XXX
The Ayodhya case is considered a watershed in India's political and social history, given the communal tension that erupted following demands to build a Ram temple at the site of the Babri Masjid and subsequent demolition of the mosque in December 1992.
The five-justice Constitution bench of the Supreme Court that delivered the verdict on the petitions in the Ayodhya case was headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and consisted of Justices S.A. Bobde, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S.A. Nazeer.
The Supreme Court had on August 6 commenced day-to-day hearings in the Ayodhya dispute, which finally concluded on October 16, following which the five-member bench reserved its verdict. The verdict was expected to come before the retirement on November 17 of Chief Justice Gogoi. Gogoi had cancelled a foreign visit, emphasising the attention the Constitution bench was giving to the Ayodhya verdict and other key impending judgments such as appeals against the Rafale deal.
The Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya dispute was delivered in response to 14 appeals filed against a Allahabad High Court order of 2010. The Allahabad High Court had ordered that the disputed property, spanning 2.77 acres, be divided equally among the petitioners to the Ayodhya dispute: the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had also appointed a three-member mediation panel—comprising former Supreme Court justice F.M.I. Kallifulla, Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and legal mediator Sriram Panchu. While the mediation panel reported in August it had not achieved substantial results, the Supreme Court allowed it to resume work in parallel with its daily hearings.
