The Supreme Court today (5 December) decided to hear the civil appeals filed by various parties challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute on 8 February, 2018.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S A Najeeb also asked the Advocates on Record of appeals to sit together and ensure that all the requisite documents are translated, filed and numbered before the apex court Registry. In case of any problem, the counsel were directed to consult the Registry.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal – representing the Sunni Wakf Board – told the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court that all the exhibits have not been filled before the court and stated that all the pleadings are not complete. He, along with Rajiv Dhawan said that they wanted a larger bench with at least seven members to here the matter.

Sibal also demanded that the case be heard after 15 July 2019 claiming that the present political atmosphere was not conducive. He then asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta about the 19,000 pages of documents that were filed, claiming that caould not be filed in a such short time and that he and the other petitioners have not been served relevant documents of pleadings. He then said that the hearing would have serious repercussions outside court and thus to preserve the decorum of law and order, the court should hear the matter only after all the pleadings are complete.

ASG Mehta – representing the Government of Uttar Pradesh – however clarified that the contentions of pleadings being incomplete were untrue and asserted that all the pleadings have been complied with and the cases were ripe for hearing.

A three-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had ordered that the land be partitioned equally among three parties – the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the deity, Ram Lalla.

With inputs from ANI and PTI