Sunni waqf board counsel favours settlement of Ayodha dispute

With the mediation committee submitting a "settlement report" in the Supreme Court on the day it wound up its arguments in the Ayodhya dispute case, counsel of Sunni Waqf Board Syed Shahid Rizvi said on Thursday that every party should read the terms of settlement and sign it.

"The parties have reached at a term before the mediation panel, I cannot divulge the details. Mediation is already done and over. Other parties, who did not seek it, must read the terms of the settlement and sign it. There is a chance of settlement," Rizvi told ANI.

Rizvi said the settlement is "best for unity and integrity of India".

Karunesh Shukla, who represented Mahant Dharam Das, a primary litigant in the case, said most parties in the case have not agreed with the mediation panel. "It is not required," he said.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday wrapped up the arguments of all the concerned parties and reserved the order in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute case.

The five-judge bench Constitution bench, headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi, has given liberty to the parties to submit written submissions in three days.

The court heard appeals challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict, which ordered equal division of the 2.77-acre of disputed land in Ayodhya among the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and the Ram Lalla.

The 16th-century Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992.