Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute case: SC reserves decision on mediation

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved the order in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case. It heard a case pertaining to appointing a court-monitored mediator in order to come out with a 'permanent solution' in the Ayodhya Ram Temple case.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi had, on February 26, suggested that an amicable solution to the dispute could be found via mediation and said that it would pass an order in this regard on March 6. 

The parties supporting the construction of Ram temple at the site, including the Uttar Pradesh government, argued that mediation would be futile considering the sensitive nature of the case and urged the court to decide instead. The counsel for Ram Lalla Virajman, the presiding deity of a makeshift temple at the disputed site, offered to crowdfund for the construction of a mosque at an alternate site. 

Justice Bobde says idea of mediation came up because the Ayodhya dispute is not just about the land. “It’s unfair to prejudge outcome...We are of view this is not just a dispute about the land, but one involving sentiments and that is why this idea (whether it should be referred to mediation) came up,”. He adds, "We have no control over what happened in the past...and so we cannot undo that. We can only undo what exists in the present moment and that’s the dispute."

Under the Ayodhya Act of 1993, the centre is holding the acquired land, which includes the disputed land, as a non-partisan, statutory receiver.