On Tuesday, the bench constituting of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Abdul Nazeer postponed the Babri Masjid hearing to the 8th of February 2018.
Senior Advocates K. Parasaran, C.S. Vaidyanathan and Advocate Saurabh Shamsheri represented Ram Lalla. Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the Uttar Pradesh Government. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Anoop George Chaudhari, Rajeev Dhavan and Sushil Jain represented other parties including All India Sunni Waqf Board and Nirmohi Akhara.
Kapil Sibal stated the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) did not place all the reports in the Court. A total number of 19,590 documents were to be filed in the Apex Court, he added.
Tushar Mehta argued and stated all related documents and requisite translation copies are in the record.
Kapil Sibal fired back stating the petitioners did not receive the documents of pleadings. This led to a war of words within the Supreme Court.
Senior Advocates Rajeev Dhawan, Kapil Sibal and Dushyant Dave representing the Sunni Wakf Board threatened to walk out of the Supreme Court. The threat was followed by Rajeev Dhawan asking for a five or seven member bench looking into this case.
Kapil Sibal requested the Supreme Court to hold the hearings on the 15th of July 2019, after the elections. This is to preserve the decorum of law and order, he added.
The Supreme Court Bench denied Kapil Sibal’s request requiring an answer for postponing the hearing. “It’s not an ordinary suit. But need to start somewhere,” the Supreme Court Bench added.
The Supreme Court Bench also questioned why the case should be heard by a five or seven member bench.
Following an order from the Supreme Court Bench to the advocates on record of the appeals, the bench postponed the case to February. The SC Bench ordered the advocates to ensure all the documents are filed and numbered.
