SC to hear Ayodhya title dispute case today: Everything you need to know

How did the Ayodhya land dispute case get to where it is?

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Ayodhya title suit regarding the Babri masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi land dispute would be heard by a five-judge Constitution bench on January 10 (Thursday).

The bench will be led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, with the other four judges being Justices S.A. Bobde, N.V. Ramana, U.U. Lalit and D Y Chandrachud.

The Supreme Court began hearing the case in December 2017, when the Allahabad high court decision to split the land three ways was appealed.

In the last week of September 2018, the Supreme Court refused to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench a 24-year-old case – the Ismail Faruqui judgment – that said offering prayers in a mosque is not an “essential feature” of Islam. Justice Ashok Bhushan authored the majority judgment, for himself and then Chief Justice Dipak Misra. Justice S.A. Nazeer was the dissenting judge.

The Muslim litigants had requested that the judgment be reopened because the litigants felt it might have an adverse bearing on their claim to the land in question.

ALSO READ: Supreme Court sets up five-judge bench to hear Ayodhya land dispute case

While refusing to list the matter before a constitution bench, the Supreme Court said the civil suit will be decided on the basis of evidence and that the previous verdict does not have any relevance.

What the Ismail Faruqui judgment of 1994 was about

The petitioner, Ismail Faruqui, challenged the validity of the Acquisition of Certain Area At Ayodhya Act, 1993, under which 67.703 acres were acquired in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex in Ayodhya.

The Supreme Court held that “any step taken to arrest escalation of communal tension” can “by no stretch of argumentation, be termed non-secular”.

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Pappu has become Param Pujya, Raj Thackeray on Rahul after poll results

The MNS chief said that the party was bound to be defeated because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah's behaviour.

As the Congress party has emerged victorious in Rajasthan, and is also poised to sweep Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi who was referred to as 'Pappu' (colloquial Hindi word for dumb kid) by his opponents has now become 'Param Pujya' (most revered).

"Rahul Gandhi was alone in Gujarat, even in Karnataka and now too. Now Pappu has become Param Pujya.

Will his leadership be accepted at the national level, you are seeing it," he said.

The MNS chief also took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is inching towards its defeat in recently held state Assembly elections and said that the party was bound to be defeated because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah's behaviour.

"It was bound to happen. .The way Amit Shah and Modi ji behaved in the past four years. It is all clear to the people of India now... they failed in all fronts and they have nothing to show...

so they are playing Ram Mandir card but people are smart enough," he added.

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Ram temple: VHP says Hindus can't wait forever for SC verdict, seeks law

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said an "appropriate bench" will decide in January next year the future course of hearing on the appeals filed against the Allahabad HC.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Monday said Hindus cannot wait eternally for a court judgement on the Ayodhya land dispute case and asked the government to bring a law for building a Ram temple.

It's working president Alok Kumar urged the Narendra Modi government to bring a legislation in the Winter Session.

His remarks came soon after the Supreme Court moved the hearing on the case to January next year.

"The Supreme Court has once again adjourned the hearing. This fortifies the VHP's stand that the solution to the Ram Janambhoomi issue is not in eternally waiting for hearing of appeals pending for over seven years.

We reiterate our request to the Union government to enact a law to clear the way for building a grand temple of Lord Ram at his birthplace in Ayodhya," Kumar told PTI.

This may be done in the coming winter session of Parliament, the head of the RSS affiliate said, adding that the Hindutva organisation will intensify its campaign for such a legislation if the government does not act.

The organisation has called a two-day 'Dharam Sansad', a meeting of seers, on January 31 and February 1 next year to discuss the Ram temple issue. This will be held on the sidelines of the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said an "appropriate bench" will decide in January next year the future course of hearing on the appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case.

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