India Tomorrow
New Delhi, March 26— About three weeks after the Supreme Court of India constituted a three-member panel under the chair of a retired judge of the apex court, Nirmohi Akhara, one of the original plaintiffs in the title suits in the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid land dispute, filed an application in the top court on Monday seeking inclusion of two retired judges of the Supreme Court in the panel and shifting of the venue from Ayodhya to Delhi.
On March 8, a five-member Constitution Bench of the top court had referred the matter to mediation.
The court asked the mediation panel of retired judge of Supreme Court Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifullh, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar from Art of Living and Senior Advocate Sriram Panchu to start mediation proceeding within one week, submit interim report in four weeks and conclude the proceedings in eight weeks. The top court also ordered that mediation will be held in-camera barring the media from reporting and it will be held in Faizabad.
The mediation started on March 13. The Akhara, in its petition in the SC on Monday, said that proceedings before the mediation panel on March 13 “left a lot to be desired”, reports LiveLaw.in.
The Akhara has also suggested that as a first measure the original parties in the suits who claim title – the Akhara and the UP Sunni Waqf Board – should be encouraged to have dialogues with each other under the aegis of the panel, without having to give any proposal in writing.
The Akhara has also suggested inclusion of two more retired Supreme Court judges in the panel. It has requested for change of mediation venue from Faizabad (the place where disputed land is located) to New Delhi or some other neutral place with adequate and genuine security to the concerned parties.
The mediation proceedings are slated to continue on March 27, 28 and 29.
Development Not Ram Temple to Be Key Poll Issue: UP Dy CM
The BJP invariably raises the Ram temple issue before a general election but not so this time around as it’s “not an issue” as it would await the Supreme Court’s verdict. The 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be fought on the plank of development, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said.
“Ram temple is not an election issue for us because it is the issue of our faith which is bigger than any issue,” Sharma told IANS in an interview.
Sharma said the BJP, in its 2014 election manifesto had made it clear that it will follow the wishes of the different parties in the Ayodhya dispute or follow the Supreme Court’s guidelines.
He pointed out that many times, people had sat together to mediate on the dispute but “unfortunately it has failed in the past.
“And that is the reason why we are looking at the Supreme Court to give its verdict on the Ram temple issue,” the former Lucknow Mayor, who is also a professor, said.
— With Inputs From IANS
