Chief Justice Kapadia to hear Ayodhya verdict deferment petition

NEW DELHI - Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia will head the three- judge bench that will hear the verdict on the Ayodhya title case on September 28.

The other two judges are Justice Aftab Alam and Justice KS Radhakrishnan.

The matter has been listed for hearing as the first item on the agenda at 10.30 a.m. on September 28.

Earlier on Thursday, the apex court deferred the Ayodhya verdict till September 28.

The apex court has sent notice to all parties involved in Ayodhya title dispute case.

The apex court had on Wednesday 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 saying 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)