The mediation process by the three-member panel in the Ayodhya dispute case has failed, the Supreme Court said on Friday, declaring daily hearings in the case will begin from August 6.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said, “case will be heard on day to day basis until the arguments are concluded.”
The three-member mediation panel headed by Justice FM Kalifulla on Thursday submitted the report of proceedings in a sealed cover.
Earlier in May, the top court had extended the time for the Ayodhya mediation panel till August 15 to explore the possibility of an amicable solution to the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute.
The Apex Court on March 8, had appointed the three-member panel comprising former Supreme Court judge FM Kalifulla, spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu to reach a consensus to resolve the Ayodhya row.
The panel started consultations in March to explore an amicable settlement.
The Constitution Bench, also comprising Justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer said mediation may help in “healing relations”. Even if there is “one per cent chance” of settling the dispute amicably, the parties should go for mediation, the bench had said.
Fourteen pleas have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court order, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties — the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
