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Why in news ?

The Supreme Court ordered a court-supervised mediation to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute in 8 weeks.

What is the core dispute?

The dispute over the site at Ayodhya has been continuing since 1949.

A 16th century mosque stood at Ayodhya until it was torn down by Hindutva fanatics in December 1992.

After the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the President referred the matter to the Supreme Court.

The court was to look into the question of whether there was a temple to Lord Ram before the mosque was built at the site.

The court, in a landmark decision in 1994, declined to go into that question.

However, it revived the title suits to decide on the ownership of the site and, thereby, restored due process and the rule of law.

The Supreme Court recently took up appeals against the 2010 verdict of the Allahabad High Court which ordered a three-way division of the disputed site.

What is the court’s order now?

As Justice SA Bobde made it clear during the proceedings earlier this week, the dispute is also about “religious sentiments”. “We know its impact on public sentiment, on body politic.

The Court sought the views of the parties on invoking Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) which deals with mediation.

A five-judge constitution bench finally went for mediation and appointed former Supreme Court judge justice (retd) F.M.I. Kalifulla as the chairperson of the panel of mediators.

The other two members are spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.

The mediation proceedings will be held in-camera in Faizabad which adjoins Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

To ensure the success of the mediation process, the apex court directed that “utmost confidentiality” be maintained.

It also barred both print and electronic media from reporting the proceedings.

Hindu bodies, except the Nirmohi Akhara, have opposed mediation, while Muslim bodies have supported it.

What is mediation?

Mediation is an out of the court and informal method of dispute resolution, where a neutral third party assists the parties in dispute to amicably resolve their dispute by using specialized communication and negotiation techniques. The mediator or mediators could be former judges, advocates and people trained in mediation.

The mediator or mediators could be former judges, advocates and people trained in mediation. The concept of mediation received legislative recognition in India for the first time in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The conciliators appointed under the Act are charged with the duty of mediating in and promoting the settlement of Industrial disputes.In 1999, the Indian Parliament passed the Civil Procedure Code Amendment Act of 1999 inserting Section 89 in the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, providing for reference of cases pending in the Courts to mediation.Mandatory mediation through courts has now a legal sanction.

How effective will mediation be?

Mediation is a welcome option for those involved in prolonged civil disputes.

However, it is questionable whether this principle can be applied to all disputes and in all situations.

Mediation in Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute is quite strange and incongruous.

This is because a number of attempts at mediation have been made in the past and all such previous attempts have ended in failure.

Further, the case is ripe for final hearing, and not all parties favoured mediation.

Moreover, the inclusion of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as one of the mediators is controversial.

In the past, he has made remarks to the effect that Muslims ought to give up their claim and that the failure to find a negotiated settlement will result in “civil war”.

The possible solution :

Allahabad High Court had ruled that 2.77 acres of Ayodhya land be divided into 3 parts, with 1/3 going to Ram Lalla or Infant Rama represented by Hindu Maha Sabha for construction of the Ram temple, 1/3 going to Islamic Sunni Waqf Board and remaining 1/3 going to Hindu religious denomination Nirmohi Akhara.

About nirmohi akhara :

Akhara is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artists or a sampradaya monastery for religious renunciates in Guru–shishya tradition.

Nirmohi Akhara is one of the fourteen akharas recognized by the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad and belongs to the Vaishnava sampradaya.

Additional references : https://youtu.be/-jxqCAIUeC8