Supreme Court dismisses Ayodhya verdict judge's plea

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today dismissed the petition of Justice (retd) Dharam Vir Sharma, a member of the three-judge Allahabad High Court bench which had delivered the landmark Ayodhya verdict on September 30, 2010, challenging his non-appointment in National Green Tribunal.

A bench of justices Altamas Kabir and S S Nijjar said Sharma cannot claim any right to appointment as it was the prerogative of the government.

"This is not a post. Can this court give any such direction? Can we issue a mandamus"? the bench told counsel N Gupta appearing for the former judge.

Gupta said Sharma was selected for both National Green Tribunal and Central Administrative Tribunal(CAT) by the high- powered committee but he was not appointed. No reason, he said, was given for his non-inclusion.

However, the argument failed to convince the bench which said "the petitioner has no right to appointment" and dismissed the petition.

Justice Sharma was a member of the bench which had ruled by a majority verdict that the disputed land in Ayodhya be divided equally into three parts among Hindus and Muslims and that the place, where the makeshift temple of Lord Ram exists, belongs to Hindus.