Supreme Court decision on deferment of Ayodhya verdict expected at 2 pm

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court, which heard a plea seeking deferment of the Allahabad high court verdict in the Ayodhya title suit case, will announce its decision at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati, appearing before a three-judge special bench, said the most preferred solution to the problem would be settlement but it has not taken place and the uncertainty, which is prevailing, should not be allowed to continue.

“Settlement, if any possible, we welcome it but we do not want any uncertainty,” he told the bench.

The three-judge bench comprised Chief Justice of India S. H. Kapadia, Justice Aftab Alam and Justice K. S. Radhakrishnan.

Earlier, the hearing started with senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi putting forth arguments on behalf of a retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chand Tripathi on why the delivery of the verdict be postponed and efforts be made to reach an amicable settlement outside the court.

On Wednesday, the apex court refused to hear a plea to defer the Ayodhya verdict that was scheduled to be delivered on September 24.

An apex court Bench refused to hear the petition filed by retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi and said the matter would be taken up by another bench.

Tripathi, who had earlier lost his plea before the Allahabad High Court, approached the apex court, saying the verdict should be deferred till the end of the Commonwealth Games.

The petition also says that a large number of forces were needed to contain possible fallout as the verdict may result in communal tension, but the forces are busy in Commonwealth Games, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar elections.

The Special Bench of the Allahabad High Court had on September 17 rejected a plea for deferment of the verdict and imposed a heavy fine on Tripathi.

The court had earlier reserved its judgment on July 26 in connection with the 60-year-old title suit.

The High Court had also imposed “”"exemplary costs”"” of Rs. 50,000 terming Tripathi”s effort for an out-of-court settlement of the dispute as a “”"mischievous attempt”"”.

On July 27, the court took the initiative for an amicable solution to the dispute when it called on counsel for the contending parties to go into the possibility. But no headway was made.

The demolition of the 16th century mosque triggered widespread communal riots across the country in 1992-93. (ANI)