Ayodhya Case: Mediation panel to submit report to Supreme Court

The three-member mediation panel comprising of three-member F M I Kalifulla, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Sriram Panchu in the Ayodhya land dispute case will submit status report in a sealed cover on Thursday in compliance with the Supreme Court's earlier order. A Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, will hear the matter on August 2. Kalifulla is former apex court judge, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is Art of Living founder and  Panchu is senior Madras High Court advocate. On March 8, the court had constituted the panel to mediate in the Ayodhya land dispute case.

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The Supreme Court had on July 18 asked the mediation committee on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute to continue the process and submit a report on the progress made till July 31. A Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer observed that it will take a call on August 2 on whether a hearing is required in the case. The apex court had made the mediation panel for 8-week and Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad was set as the location where the mediation would be held. The eight-week deadline for the mediation talks completed on May 3.

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The order came after former Supreme Court judge FMI Kalifulla, chairperson of the three-member mediation panel, submitted a status report. The court, after perusing the report, directed the committee to inform it about the progress made in the mediation till July 31.  As many as fourteen appeals are pending before the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict which ordered equal division of the 2.77-acre disputed land in Ayodhya among the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. The 16th-century Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992.

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