Ayodhya case: SC refers 3-member panel to solve land dispute

New Delhi: In a significant move, the Supreme Court on Friday referred Ayodhya’s Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case to mediation for amicable settlement.

The mediation panel will be chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice FM Kalifulla, and will also comprise spiritualist guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Senior Advocate Sriram Panchu.

The Apex Court said that proceedings in the case will be held in Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad and process to start within a week.

The Court also directed that the panel of mediators will file a progress report of the mediation proceedings within four weeks and the process should be completed within eight weeks.

The order was passed by a Constitution Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan, and S Abdul Nazeer.

Notably, as many as fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lala.

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