Mediation, which the judges thought would heal communal relations, has failed. The decades-old highly emotive Ayodhya case is back in the Supreme Court, where day-to-day hearings will begin on August 6.
After giving mediation in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute a good shot, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Friday said: “Mediation didn't result in any kind of settlement”. Friday's hearing lasted exactly six minutes.
It was five months ago that the Constitution bench of the CJI and Justices S.A. Bobde, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S. Abdul Nazeer referred the land dispute to a mediation panel.
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The panel was headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice F.M.I. Kalifulla. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living and senior advocate Sriram Panchu were the other members.
On July 9, one of the original plaintiffs, Gopal Singh Visharad, went to the apex court saying the mediation effort had failed to take off, and sought day-to-day hearings.
The mediation panel had consulted with many groups in a bid to resolve the issue, but apparently a consensus evaded them. In fact, some parties to the case did not agree with the very idea of mediation.
At the heart of the dispute is the land where the 16th century Babri Masjid stood before it was pulled down by frenzied Hindu activists on December 6, 1992. They believe that the mosque was built on the ruins of a temple at the site where Lord Ram was born—the Ram Janma Bhoomi.
The Allahabad High Court in a 2010 judgment ordered to divide the 2.77 acres land equally among the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. Fourteen appeals have been filed against this verdict.
Diverse groups of citizens, individuals, artists, architects, intellectuals, religious scholars, historians among others have at different times suggested a resolution of the issue by doing something different but noble with the land—build a hospital, a university, a cultural complex representing India's secularism etc. But for the ruling BJP, it has always been about people's aastha—faith—which is hinged on Ram Lalla's place of birth. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has plans of building a grand temple dedicated to Lord Ram at the site, and a lot of work has already been done on this, leaving a little more than assembling the blocks.
RSS leader Suresh Joshi has welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to hold daily hearings from August 6. In a tweet, he expressed confidence that the long drawn controversy would be solved in a time-bound manner, legal obstructions to the building of the grand temple would removed, and the work on the construction would start soon.
But will the Constitution bench be able to resolve the dispute? As of now, all parties have agreed to go with the Supreme Court verdict in a case where a win-win verdict will be nothing short of a miracle.