SC refuses early hearing of Ayodhya case; says Swamy can't be party to dispute

NEW DELHI: Days after Chief Justice of India JS Khehar raised hopes of a court-mediated negotiated settlement to the contentious Ayodhya title suit, the Chief Justice of India nipped the idea in the bud saying that when the bench had made the offer it was unaware that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy was not a party to the case.

The top court had at the last hearing created political ripples when it had waded into the contentious issue by offering to mediate between the two warring communities to the suit. The CJI had offered any sitting top court judge, including himself, to mediate between the two parties for a negotiated settlement.

Several Hindu and Muslim outfits are locked in a bitter conflict over the land in and around the disputed Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi structure. The Allahabad High Court had earlier carved up the land between the Hindu outfits and the Muslim outfits in a ration of 2:1 in a ruling which is being bitterly contested by both sides. Two weeks ago, the CJI had offered to mediate when Swamy had pleaded for an early hearing of the case.


Swamy had said that a settlement was possible under court mediation if the Muslims agreed to build a mosque across the Sarayu river. The Muslim outfits who were party to the case had openly opposed any negotiations, and insisted on a legal settlement of the rights of the parties.

The CJI also told Swamy to come back after two weeks, raising hopes of a formal order to this effect.

On Friday, however, when when the BJP leader mentioned the case, the CJI moved to quickly scotch the possibility of any mediation by the top court when it pointed out that Swamy was not a party to the case.

Swamy insisted in vain that he wasn’t interested in the title suit but had filed a writ petition seeing to enforce his right to worship at the babri masjid-ram janmabhoomi site. “It’s a matter of faith for me. I want a temple there so I can worship without any hindrances.”