india

Updated: Jul 18, 2019 11:56 IST

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Ayodhya panel to continue mediation till July-end and submit a report on August 1.

In a hearing on July 11, the top court bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had sought a report on the progress made. The court had then said it may begin day-today hearing from July 25 if it feels the mediation process hasn’t made much headway.

The mediation panel is headed by retired Justice FM Khalifullah. The other members of the panel are the Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu, who is a trained mediator.

On March 8, the SC ordered the mediation to seek an amicable resolution of the politically and religiously sensitive land dispute.

The court had directed both sides — Hindu and Muslim organisations — to maintain utmost confidentiality during the mediation, which was to be held in-camera.

The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of appeals against the Allahabad high court’s September 30, 2010, verdict that ordered the 2.77-acre disputed land in Ayodhya to be divided equally among three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board; the Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu religious denomination; and an organisation that represents the infant deity Ram Lalla.