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Updated: Jul 12, 2020 01:01 IST

The Supreme Court wrapped up the 40-day daily hearing of the Ayodhya case with what appeared to be high drama where a lawyer representing the Muslim parties, shredded a map submitted by an advocate of the Hindu parties.

But, it later turned out that the tearing act was with the permission of the court.

“The incident is going viral. But fact is that I wanted to throw the pages away and the CJI said I may tear them. And I tore them so I’d say it was with the permission of Court”, said Rajiv Dhawan, lawyer representing the Muslim parties. This was confirmed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also who clarified in the Court that he indeed said that Dhavan may tear the pages.

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Senior advocate Vikas Singh had submitted a pictorial map, identifying the spot of Lord Ram’s birthplace at the disputed site, along with a few documents. Dhavan objected to these and said the document was not on record.

Dhavan then asked the bench as to what he should do with it, to which the bench said that he can shred it into pieces. Dhavan then tore the pictorial map. During the arguments, Singh referred to various aspects of the Allahabad High Court judgment and said there has been long faith and belief on the part of Hindus with regard to the sacred nature of the birthplace of Lord Ram.

Dhavan had also objected to Singh’s attempt to refer to a book on Ayodhya, written by former IPS officer Kishore Kunal, saying such attempts should be disallowed. The bench had then asked Singh to proceed with the hearing saying, “Mr Dhavan, we have taken note of your objection.”

A five-judge constitution bench, headed by CJI Gogoi, is hearing the case and is expected to pronounce a verdict by November 17. The bench is hearing appeals filed against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be divided equally among the three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

Earlier, CJI Gogoi had asked all parties involved in the case to make a joint effort to complete the hearings by October 18. Justice Gogoi retires as the CJI on November and the verdict in the case is expected by mid-November.