The title suit in the Ayodhya case will be heard on January 10. A bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, on Friday announced the date in a 60-second hearing, which did not see any arguments from either side.
On December 24, a Supreme Court bench headed by the CJI had decided on "fixing the date of hearing before the appropriate bench." On the same day, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the central government wants the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit to be heard on day to day basis in the court.
The dispute is over 2.7 acres of land in Ayodhya on which the Babri Masjid stood until it was razed on December 6, 1992 by some Kar Sevaks.
In 2010, the Allahabad High Court had divided the disputed land into three parts for each of the parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
In September last year, the Supreme Court refused to reconsider its observations in a separate, 1994 judgement, stating that a mosque was not integral to Islam. The issue came up during the hearing of the Ayodhya case.
In November, the top court rejected the Uttar Pradesh government's appeal for an early hearing of the 14 petitions in the case. "We have our own priorities. Whether hearing would take place in January, March or April would be decided by an appropriate bench," the court said.
Despite pressure from the NDA ally ally Shiv Sena and various groups, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his interview with ANI on Tuesday, said that the government is waiting for a legal resolution.
"Let the judicial process be over. After the judicial process is over, whatever be our responsibility as government, we are ready to make all efforts," PM Modi said.
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