SC fixes Feb 8 for final Ayodhya case hearing

New Delhi : In a new twist in the vexed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Sunni Central Wakf Board today told the Supreme Court to put off the hearing until the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, saying its “verdict will have serious repercussions outside”.
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“Every day the case is heard… it will have repercussions outside. This case will decide the future polity of India,” counsel Kapil Sibal told a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, pointing out that Ram Temple was part of the BJP’s poll manifesto.
Sibal’s submissions were contested by senior counsel Harish Salve, representing the idol, who said, “Whatever repercussions happen outside the court… it’s not the court’s concern.” Salve wondered how anybody could presume which way the verdict would go.
The Bench — also comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer — rejected Sibal’s demand, terming it “non-serious”. “What kind of submission is it?” it commented, while fixing February 8 for commencement of the final hearing.