india

Updated: Mar 06, 2019 22:33 IST

The Supreme Court is set to take up the decades-old Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute case on Wednesday, days after it suggested mediation as a way to resolve the politically sensitive issue.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, and comprising justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer, will resume hearing the case.

The court had earlier said that even if there was a 1% chance of an amicable resolution, it should be explored.

The court is hearing 14 appeals against a 2010 Allahabad high court judgment that trifurcated the 2.77 acre disputed compound between the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhada and representatives of the child deity, Ram Lalla.

The Nirmohi Akhada and many of the Muslim litigants agreed to the mediation process. However, the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (RJN) and a Muslim litigant Iqbal Ansari opposed the proposal, saying such efforts have failed in the past.

The court was also informed that a team of eight translators would need 120 days to translate nearly 11,500 documents from 16 languages to English.

The court had fixed March 6 as the date for passing its order on whether to appoint a mediator and gave eight weeks’ time for verification of the translation of the documents, translations and records in the case.

Read more| Ayodhya case: Waqf chief says Muslim parties open to talks

The ruling BJP has been keen that the court quickly delivers its ruling soon, as it has come under attack from groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – ideological mentor of the BJP – over delay in construction of the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

Leaders of the ruling party have asserted that a decision can be taken only after the SC gives its verdict.

Over the last few months, the Ram temple issue has returned to the political centre stage and had come up during campaigning for the five states that voted new governments in December and the campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The court had earlier put off hearing the case from October last year to January.

However, the case was pushed further as Justice UU Lalit, one of the five judges hearing the case, opted out after a lawyer pointed out that he had represented one of the parties nearly two decades ago.

Chief justice Gogoi had reconstituted the bench replacing Justice NV Ramana and including justices Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer.