In giant developments in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute case, the Supreme Court on Friday has decided that from September 23 there will be an extra hour of hearing daily in order to conclude the case before the October 18 deadline. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which was hearing the decades-old politically sensitive land dispute on its 28th day of hearing, told the counsel for both the Hindu and Muslim parties that it has decided to rise at 5 pm instead of 4 pm, which is the scheduled time to wrap up the day's proceedings in the apex court.

SC's order

"We can sit for extra one hour from September 23," the bench which also comprises Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer said.

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Deadline for Ayodhya verdict

Earlier on Wednesday, the Apex Court announced that the hearing of the contentious case will go parallel to the Ayodhya mediation process and has asked all the parties involved to make efforts to complete the final arguments by October 18. The mediation proceedings will be confidential and if reached on a settlement, it will be placed before the Supreme Court.

"As per the estimate of tentative dates to finish the hearing in the case, we can say that the submissions have to be likely completed by October 18," said the CJI Ranjan Gogoi, who heads the five-judge constitution bench hearing the case. He is set to demit office on November 17.

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The mediation panel can submit a report whatever be the outcome of it after the process, the court had observed. The mediation panel report will be submitted by Justice (Retd) FMI Kalifulla-led three-member panel to the apex court in a sealed cover. The top court is hearing a batch of petitions filed by — Hindu, Muslim, and others sides — challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, which divided the disputed site into three equal parts. The day-to-day hearing started on August 6 after a court-appointed mediation panel failed to resolve the dispute through an amicable settlement.

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Mediation close to settlement

Earlier on Tuesday, Republic TV had accessed super-exclusive documents revealing that mediation was about to reach its final stage of settlement in the dispute. While it was declared by CJI Ranjan Gogoi on August 2 that the mediation in the Ayodhya land dispute has failed, these documents reveal that mediation was about to settle, but could not be completed 'due to paucity of time'. In a letter written by Sunni Waqf Board to the mediation panel, comprising of Justice P.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Sriram Panchi, the board has asked for more time from the panel to reach a settlement.

"The issue was almost resolved and the parties had reached a definite settlement. However, the same could not be finalised due to paucity of time. If only or two weeks more were available with you, we are sure that Settlement could have come through," the letter dated September 5, 2019 read. 

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(With PTI inputs)