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CJI to head Bench on Ayodhya hearing
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, September 25
Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia has allotted the petition on the Ayodhya issue to his own three-member Bench for hearing on September 28. Justices Aftab Alam and KS Radhakrishnan would be the other members of the Bench.

While Justice Radhakrishnan is usually part of the CJI Bench, Justice Alam, who presides over a separate court these days, has been drafted for hearing the plea to postpone the Allahabad High Court’s verdict over ownership of the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid site. The Bench would hear the petition first thing in the morning — it is item number one on the list of cases for September 28.

The move comes in the wake of a Bench comprising Justices RV Raveendran and HL Gokhale referring the petition back to the CJI for posting it to a larger Bench in view of the difference of perception between the two judges on the petition.

While hearing the plea on September 23, Justice Raveendran wanted to dismiss the petition as reconciliation efforts — tried politically and judicially from time to time — had failed to make any headway in 60 years. He also did not agree with the petitioner that the verdict would result in nation-wide violence, observing that people were mature enough not to be misled.

However, Justice Gokhale favoured another shot at out-of-court settlement for several reasons. First, he did not want the SC to be blamed for letting go of a chance for preventing a possible law and order problem in the wake of the HC verdict, originally slated for September 24.

Second, reconciliation should be tried even if there was one per cent chance of success. Third, across the board negotiations would become all the more difficult after the verdict, as the winner would be under pressure to protect all it got from the judiciary, Justice Gokhale felt.

Despite the differences, the two-member Bench restrained the HC from going ahead with the verdict for a week and issued notice to all parties to the dispute besides Attorney-General GE Vahanvati, thereby involving the Centre in the case.

The petitioner, retired bureaucrat RC Tripathi, pleaded for another round of negotiations as a court verdict would spur violence at a time when the Commonwealth Games were about to begin, the Kashmir valley was facing a law and order situation, Bihar was headed for the Assembly polls and most northern states were reeling under floods.

The apex court would try to decide the issue before October 1 when Justice DV Sharma, one of the three HC Judges who heard the title suit, would retire. If it is not decided by then, the HC would have to hear the matter afresh or Justice Sharma would have to be given extension until the verdict is delivered.