Supreme Court to hear Ayodhya title dispute on 4 Jan, matter listed before three-judge bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi

The Supreme Court said on Monday that it will take up a batch of petitions in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case for hearing on 4 January. The matter is listed before a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice SK Kaul. The court is yet to appoint a third justice to the bench hearing these petitions. [caption id=“attachment_5731831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the Supreme Court. AP[/caption] The bench is likely to constitute a three-judge bench for hearing as many as 14 appeals filed against the Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land should be partitioned equally among three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. Earlier, CJI Gogoi had rejected the Uttar Pradesh government’s plea for an early hearing and ordered the listing of the appeals in the first week of January. “We have our own priorities. Whether hearing would take place in January , March or April would be decided by an appropriate bench,” the CJI said. In September, former CJI Dipak Misra had rejected a plea to refer to a larger bench a 1994 ruling of the apex court, in which it observed that “a mosque is not an essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam and namaz by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in open”. Meanwhile, Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said that the BJP is of the view that the Supreme Court should hear the Ram temple land dispute case on a daily basis to deliver an early judgment. With inputs from PTI