The SC had directed that mediation proceedings be completed within eight weeks. (File) The SC had directed that mediation proceedings be completed within eight weeks. (File)

Two months after it referred the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya for mediation, the Supreme Court will hear the case on Friday. The Supreme Court constituted three-member mediation committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, submitted its interim report in a sealed cover on May 6, PTI reported.

The matter will be heard by a Constitution bench comprising of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and judges SA Bobde, Dr DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer.

On March 8, the apex court had referred the Ayodhya dispute for mediation to the panel, also comprising of spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu, after it noted “the lack of consensus between the parties in the matter”. The SC had directed proceedings to be completed within eight weeks.

The suggestion for mediation had come from the bench on February 26 when it took up appeals. It said it could only decide on a property and what it was looking at was “a possibility of healing relationships”.

During the hearing, the SC bench had stressed the need to keep the proceedings confidential so that dialogue is not hampered by unwanted comments and controversies.

While Hindu bodies, except for Nirmohi Akhara, and the Uttar Pradesh government opposed the court’s suggestion for mediation, the Muslim petitioners supported the proposal.

The top court is hearing appeals against the September 30, 2010 verdict of the Allahabad High Court which ordered a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acres site between the Nirmohi Akhara sect, the Sunni Central Wakf Board, Uttar Pradesh and the deity Ramlalla Virajman.

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