Supreme Court refuses to take up Ayodhya verdict deferment plea

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Wednesday deferred hearing a petition urging for a postponement of the Ayodhya title suit verdict, which is scheduled to be pronounced by a division bench of the Allahabad High Court on September 24.

A former bureaucrat Ramesh Chand Tripathi had moved a fresh plea before the apex court on Wednesday, after the Allahabad High Court last week rejected his similar petition for deferring the title suit judgement.

Refusing to take up the petition, a bench of Justices Altmas Kabir and A K Patnaik of the Supreme Court said, ?It is a civil suit. We have no jurisdiction over it.?

The Bench directed the matter to be listed before the appropriate Bench.

Tripathi had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court to defer the judgement, stating that the verdict should be deferred till the end of the Commonwealth Games and the dispute referred to arbitration or conciliation process.

The petitioner said that a large number of forces were needed to contain possible fallout as the verdict may result in communal tension, but the forces were busy in CWG, J&K and Bihar elections.

Tripathi also challenged the Rs 50,000 fine imposed on him by the High Court bench.

The High Court had rejected the application terming it as “mischievous” and “an attempt to obstruct the verdict”.

However, one of the three-member Bench, Justice DV Sharma, had later given a dissenting opinion and said he was not consulted before the other two members rejected the plea to defer the verdict.

Justice Sharma maintained that more time could be given to the concerned parties to arrive at a negotiated settlement.

The verdict on the 60- year-old Ayodhya title suit to determine who owns the disputed land is being awaited with eagerness by both the Muslims and Hindus and with consternation by the governments tasked to prevent riots over the issue.

A three-member Lucknow Bench, comprising of Justices S U Khan, Sudhir Agarwal and D V Sharma, will deliver verdict in one of the fieriest affairs in the country.

Over 2,000 people were killed in the riots that followed the demolition of the Babri Masjid by Hindu kar sevaks on December 6, 1992, who claimed the Masjid was built after demolishing a Ram temple in 1528.