Ayodhya at the heart of the matter

NEW DELHI: CJI Dipak Misra’s decision to wrap up the Ayodhya case, which has been lying with the court since 2010, is one of the reasons that has led to the Opposition’s impeachment proceedings against him.

Adding to the problems was the allegations levelled by the four senior most judges that the chief justice kept all important cases with him as the master of the roster and sent key matters, such as Loya case, to handpicked benches. The next twist in the tale came when the CJI began hearing the Ayodhya case.

To be fair to the CJI, his predecessor JS Khehar had unlocked the genie when he had on an oral plea by S Swamy of the BJP offered to resolve the issue between the two communities.


CJI Khehar withdrew the offer when he realised that Swamy was not a petitioner in the original title suit in which the Allahabad HC had carved up the land on which the now demolished Babri Masjid structure once stood between Hindus and Muslims in the ratio of 2:1.

It was left to CJI Misra to declare that the case cannot continue to languish in the top court forever.