SC stays HC verdict in Ayodhya title suit for one week

New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court verdict
on the Ayodhya title suit will not be delivered Friday with
the Supreme Court of India deferring it by a week in a sudden
turn of events Thursday deciding to hear the plea for
postponement next Tuesday.
After sharp differences over the issue of entertaining
the petition challenging the HC order refusing to postpone the
judgement, a Bench comprising Justices R V Raveendran and H L
Gokhale stayed for a week the verdict due to have been
pronounced Friday by the High Court's Lucknow Bench in north
India.
Following the court's tradition in case of differences,
the Bench decided to issue notices to all the contesting
parties and sought their response to the plea by retired
bureaucrat Ramesh Chand Tripathi.
Tripathi's petition pleaded for exploring the possibility
of an out-of-court settlement on the 60-year-old Ram
Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit dispute.
Significantly, the court made the Centre a party to the
hearing by issuing a notice to Attorney General G E Vahanvati
and sought his presence when the deferment plea comes up again
on Tuesday.
Justice Raveendran was of the view that the special
leave petition filed by Tripathi should be dismissed while
Justice Gokhale was of the opinion that a notice should be
issued for exploring the option of settlement.
Notwithstanding his reservations, Justice Raveendran,
who was heading the Bench, preferred to go along with Justice
Gokhale in making one attempt to find a settlement.
"If there is one per cent chance, you have to give it
(for settlement)," Justice Gokhale said.
Justice Raveendran in his order said "One of the
members of the Bench is of the view that the SLP should be
dismissed. Another member is of the view that the order should
be stayed and notice issued.
"Tradition of this court is when one member says that
notice be issued another says that it should not be issued,
the notice should be issued.
"And we issue notice and stay the order. There shall
be an interim stay for a week. Notice to all parties and the
Attorney General who shall be present in the court".
The posting of the next hearing on September 28
assumes importance in view of the fact that one of the three
judges of the Ayodhya bench in Lucknow--Justice D V Sharma--
is due to demit office on October one. (MORE) PTI RB
SAK


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