Ayodhya dispute: Hearing on December 5

New Delhi: Taking into consideration that 90000 pages of evidence had to be translated from Hindi to English, the Supreme Court on Friday posted for final hearing on December 5, (on the eve of 25th anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition on December 6), a batch of 13 appeals against a Allahabad high court verdict that directed division of 2.77 acres of land of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya into three parts among Hindus, Muslims and the Nirmohi Akhara. A special bench of justices Dipak Misra, Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer asked the Uttar Pradesh government, represented by additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta, to translate the documents in 10 weeks to facilitate commencement of the hearing on December 5, even as senior counsel Kapil Sibal and others appearing for Muslim organizations pleading for more time. Those who filed the appeals included the Sunni Central Wakf Board, UP, the Nirmohi Akhara, the All-India Hindu Mahasabha and Bhagwan Shri Ram Virajman. Senior counsel Mr. Sibal, Anoop Chaudhary, Rajeev Dhavan and C.S. Vaidyanathan appeared for various parties. Mr Sibal and Mr Choudhry brought to the notice of the bench that there are voluminous records, scripts in seven languages, Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Persian, Arabic, Punjabi and Urdu which are to be translated into English and sought to list of the appeals in January 2018. When Mr Chaudhary said that the “appeals were not yet ripe for hearing”, counsel for other appellants said the appeals are pending for seven years whether those representing Muslims did not want an early hearing.