Apex court paves way for Ayodhya verdict
By IANSTuesday, September 28, 2010
NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Tuesday paved the way for pronouncement of the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi title suit verdict by the Allahabad High Court, dismissing a petition seeking deferment of the decision.
The petition was filed by former bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi for postponing the high court verdict till the end of the Commonwealth Games.
An apex court bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice Aftab Alam and Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan passed the brief order when the court reassembled after lunch break.
Speaking for the bench, Chief Justice Kapadia said: “Having heard the arguments in detail, we are of the view that the petition deserves to be dismissed.”
With the dismissal of Tripathi’s petition, the timing for the pronouncement of the verdict now rests with the high court.
In its pre-lunch sitting, the apex court heard the arguments from both the sides.
Attorney General G. Vahanvati had told the court: “If there is any possibility of the settlement (out of court) we will welcome it but at the same time we don’t want any uncertainty to continue.”
“For the sake of maintaining law and order, we cannot keep security forces on sustained animation,” he added.
The apex court had last week ordered an interim stay on the pronouncement of the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi title suit verdict by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, acting on a petition by retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi.
Tripathi had also sought the court’s direction to the parties to explore the possibility of an out-of-court amicable settlement.
