New Delhi/Lucknow, Sep 28 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court will deliver its verdict in the 60-year-old Ramjanambhoomi- Babri Masjid title suit on Thursday after the Supreme Court today cleared the path by dismissing a petition for its deferment ending the uncertainty. A three-judge Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court will pronounce the verdict in the Ayodhya case on September 30 at 3.30 PM, the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Hari Shankar Dubey said in Lucknow, shortly after the Apex Court lifted its week-long interim stay given last Thursday.
The Supreme Court''s three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia gave a brief unanimous order dimissing the petition by a retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi challenging the Lucknow Bench order rejecting his plea for postponing the keenly waited judgement to explore the possibility of mediation. The bench also comprising Justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan however did not give any reasons for its order giving the green signal for the high court verdict after two hours of arguments.
"Having considered in detail the arguments of the parties, we are of the view that the SLP has to be dismissed. Accordingly, the SLP stands dismissed," it said.
During arguments on the Special Leave Petition, the Bench questioned the plea for deferment of the verdict. "You are running against time because you woke up late.
That is after 50 years," Justice Aftab Alam said. "The question is why you were quiet for all these days.
You had to strike a chord when the matter was in the High Court," Justice Alam said. The observations by the bench came when senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Tripathi, was buttressing the argument that a settlement could be arrived at through negotiations.
Anwsering the bench for the delay in exploring an out-of-court settlement, Rohatgi said mediation was not a part of the statute. Justice Alam said lawyers of all the contesting parties are at least in agreement on the issue of delivery of judgement by the Allahabad High Court.
The September 30 date fixed by the Lucknow Bench assumes importance since one of the judges of the three-member bench, Justice D V Sharma, is to demit office on October one. The other judges in the bench are Justice S U Khan and Sudhir Agarwal.
Earlier, Attorney General G E Vahanvati, who was asked by the apex court to assist it in today''s hearing, said that uncertainty should not be allowed to continue. The Supreme Court decision was welcomed by the main contesting parties to the title suit as well as the Centre and all political parties including the Congress, BJP and the Left.
Appealing for calm, the Government and the political parties said the high court verdict should be respected. "We welcome the (SC)verdict" was the refrain of all sections.
Political parties also underscored that there was an option of approaching the apex court by any of the parties to the title suit after the HC verdict. The Supreme Court has taken the "right decision" since an overwhelming majority did not want the verdict to be further deferred, Law and Justice Minister Veerappa Moily said.
The verdict was to have been originally pronounced on September 24.
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