SC Orders Mediation In Ayodhya Case, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar In 3-Member Panel

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered a monitored mediation of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case.

The SC Bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer, appointed Justice FMI Kalfullah, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu as mediators for an amicable settlement to the title case.

The mediation hearing will start in a week and the panel has to submit the status report in four weeks, the apex court said, adding that the process, which will be held in Faizabad, has to be completed in eight weeks.

It will be a confidential process and the media is refrained from publishing details of the proceedings.

On Wednesday, the apex court had reserved its order on the issue of referring the title dispute case to the court-monitored mediation, but had advocated a peaceful resolution to the otherwise politically and religiously sensitive issue.

In a hearing on February 26, the court had said that even if there was a 1 per cent chance of an amicable resolution, mediation should be given a chance.

The dispute involves 2.77 acres of land in Ayodhya where a 16th century mosque, said to be built by Mughal emperor Babur, stood. Believing that it was built on the ruins of an ancient temple of Lord Ram, marking his birthplace, Hindu activists had razed it in December 1992.