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New Delhi: Nirvani Ani Akhara's Mahant Dharam Das along with a lawyer comes out of the court after a hearing on Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case at Supreme Court in New Delhi on Friday. PTI Photo by Ravi Choudhary (PTI4_27_2018_000118B)[/caption]
New Delhi, April 27 (PTI): Hindu religious bodies today told the Supreme Court that the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya was purely a “property dispute” and the issue of political or religious senstivities cannot be a ground to refer the matter to a larger bench.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer was told by senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for original plaintiff Gopal Singh Visharad who was among the first to file a civil suit in the case way back in 1950, that there was no need to refer the matter to a larger bench since a three-judge bench was already seized of it.
Salve said that as per the prevalent practices and traditions of the apex court, the appeals against orders passed by a full bench of any high court have always come up for adjudication before a three-judge bench of the top court, instead of a two-judge bench.
Senior advocate K Parasaran, appearing for the deity, Ram Lalla Virajman, also supported Salve’s arguments and said the matter should be heard by a three-judge bench only.
Senior advocate Raju Ramachandaran, appearing for the Muslim bodies and petitioner M Siddiq, said that looking at the sensitivities of the matter and its sheer importance, the case should be referred to a larger bench.
The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue on May 15.
The special bench of the apex court is seized of a total of 14 appeals filed against the high court judgement delivered in four civil suits.
A three-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court, in a 2:1 majority ruling, had in 2010 ordered that the land be partitioned equally among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.