New Delhi: A day after the judgment on the Ayodhya dispute relating to Ram Janma-bhoomi-Babri Masjid site was reserved, the five jud-ges of the Constitution bench headed by the Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi met in the chamber to deliberate on the way forward given the limited time available to deliver the judgment.

The top court has to pronounce the judgment by November 17 — the day CJI Gogoi is retiring.

CJI Gogoi, Justice S.A. Bobde, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer will not only have to pour over the Allahabad high court judgment but will also have to consider the report sent by the three-member mediation committee headed by former top court judge Justice F.M.I. Kalifulla which is essentially based on the latest proposal by the chairman of the Sunni Waqf Board, Zafar Ahmed Farooqui.

The court will also examine whether the report of the mediation committee should be made public.

The Sunni Waqf Board has suggested that Centre could acquire the site on which the now-demolished Babri Masjid stood, an alternate mosque to the Sunni Waqf Board, reopening of the mosques controlled by the Archaeological Survey of India for offering Namaz and other proposals, including the strengthening of the Places of Worship Act.

Meanwhile, an advocate, Shahid Rizvi, speaking for Sunni Waqf Board on Thursday said Mr Farooqui had given a proposal to the mediation committee and was willing to withdraw the suit if the demands in the said proposal are accepted.

The proposal that has reached the top court from the mediation committee has besides Justice Kallifulla, the religious preacher Ravi Shankar and senior lawyer and well-known mediator Shriram Panchu as its members.   

The lawyers who slogged over 40 days in the top court arguing the Sunni Waqf Board’s case claiming the title of the dispute site said that everything happened “behind their back” and that Mr Farooqui was
not even in touch with them.

Pointing to some alleged influences working behind the sudden change in the stand of the Waqf Board, a lawyer speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the board is a statutory body and the state government appoints the chairman.