Court rebuffs move to defer Ayodhya judgement
September 17, 2010 6:49:28 PM

PTI | Lucknow


An effort for deferring the judgement in the 60-year-old title suit in the Ramjanambhoomi -Babri Masjid dispute was on Friday rebuffed by the Allahabad High Court, which will now pronounce its verdict on Sept 24.

A 3-judge Special Bench of the Court rejected a petition filed by one Ramesh Chandra Tripathi for deferring the judgement for working out an out-of-court amicable settlement of the issue saying there was no no merit in the application.

The Special Bench, comprising Justice S.U Khan , Justice D.V Sharma and Justice Sudhir Agarwal, decided to imposed a heavy fine which would be annunced later though Justice Agarwal proposed a fine of Rs. Five lakh.

The judges asked the parties whether they were interested in going for any discussion for a compromise and none of them showed interest. Following this, the court rejected the petition for deferring the judgement.

Tripathi, a defendent in the case, had filed the application for making another attempt to reach a solution to the dispute through reconciliation and deferment of the verdict.

Objections were filed yesterday by Sunni Central Board of Wakf and the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha before Court against any deferment of the verdict and with today's order they have become infructous.

Zafaryab Jilani, Counsel for Sunni Wakf Board, toldreporters outside the court that Tripathi's application was rejected with costs.

He said the court pointed out to the counsel pleading for deferment a 1954 judgement of the Supreme Court that such a petition could not not be entertained at this stage and asked him if he was aware of it. The counsel replied that he was aware of it.

When the Bench asked the parties to the dispute their opinion on the application that the matter could be settled through mediation and discussion, all of them replied that they had no no such hope.

Jilani said Tripathi could have been "set up" by someone with "mala fide" intention for delaying the judgement.

Asked whether today's order could be contested, he said any order could be challenged but it carried the risk of the fine going up.

Harish Jain, lawyer for Hindu Mahasabha, said every party submitted before the court that they were not not prepared for further delay in the judgement in the case.

Another lawyer M M Pandey said in any compromise among parties there would be some mutual negotiations between them but the present application for deferment was not not backed even by a single.

He said the court wanted to know whether the parties wanted a compromise and everybody (parties) rejected it.

Meanwhile, Nirmohi Akhara, one of the main parties tothe Ayodhya title dispute, today filed an application seeking time till September 27 to arrive at a compromise.

The application filed by lawyer R L Verma on behalf of Mahant Raja Ramchandra has sought ten days' time to explore an out of court settlement on the issue.

The application has also said that a retired judge of the Supreme Court or High Court should be appointed as a mediator the title suit dispute in either Lucknow or in Ayodhya.

Asked if a compromise was possible, the Mahant said that "in the interest of the nation, nothing is impossible".

Gopal Singh Visharad, Nirmohi Akhara, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board and Ram Lalla Virajman are the main parties to the title dispute.

Citing apprehension of breach of peace and the upcoming Commonwealth Games, two separate applications seeking directions for deferring the verdict were also moved before the Allahabad High Court on September 13.



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