SC refuses to refer Ayodhya case to larger constitution bench

The bench was giving its verdict on petitions by some Muslims, who had pleaded that the 2010 judgment of Allahabad HC splitting the title dispute into three parts be heard by a constitution

Nirmohi Akhara Mahant Dharam Das and Iqbal Ansari, the main litigants in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case, interact with the media after the SC verdict, in Ayodhya, on Thursday. Pic/PTI

By a majority 2-1 judgment the Supreme Court rejected a plea for referring the Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid issue to a larger constitution bench and referred the case to a three-judge bench to be set up that will begin hearing from October 29.

"No case has been made out to refer the case to a constitution bench," said Justice Ashok Bhushan, reading the judgment on behalf of himself and Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

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The bench was giving its verdict on petitions by some Muslims, who had pleaded that the 2010 judgment of Allahabad HC splitting the title dispute into three parts be heard by a constitution bench as it involved reconsideration of a 1994 ruling by the apex court, which had held that the mosque was not an essential part of Islam to offer namaz.

'Verdict is some positive movement'
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board said it saw 'some positive movement' in the Ayodhya land case after the Supreme Court verdict on Thursday in a related matter. It said the verdict indicated that the hearing in the case would not be done on the basis of faith.

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