New Delhi, Sept. 27: As a larger Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia is set for a crucial hearing on Tuesday on whether or not to further defer the Allahabad High Court judgment on the Ayodhya title suit, the UP Sunni Wakf Board, the main party representing Muslims, has in a petition to the Supreme Court sought immediate pronouncement, saying there was no chance of negotiations leading to a reconciliation now.
“There is no chance of the dispute being resolved through mediation, conciliation and arbitration,” said its 12-page affidavit urging the nation’s highest court to lift its stay and allow the High Court to pronounce its verdict.
(Counsel for Nirmohi Akhara, Mr R.L. Verma, said a prayer would be made before the Supreme Court for giving three months time for resolving the issue through reconciliation. “As for the retirement of one of the three judges in the three-member bench of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, a prayer would be made for extension, he said, according to PTI. The Akhara is also party to the title suit.)
The three-judge bench, which besides the Chief Justice also includes Justices Aftab Alam and K.S. Radhakrishnan, will decide whether to defer the ruling further to give a last chance to the parties for negotiations, or allow its pronouncement prior to the retirement of Justice D.V. Sharma, one of the three High Court judges.
Legal experts are of the view that the apex court might seek a “firm commitment” from the Centre regarding taking steps for ad-hoc appointment of Justice Sharma as a “pre-condition” for deferring the verdict to save the case from going back to square one.