Permission declined: SC refuses early hearing of pleas on Ayodhya temple-mosque dispute case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined early hearing of petitions in the Ayodhya temple-mosque dispute case. The top court said that it has already scheduled the hearing of pleas in January.

The statement from the bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul, came as it rejected the request of early hearing of lawyer Barun Kumar Sinha.

"We have already passed the order. The appeals are coming up in January. Permission declined," the bench told Sinha who had appeared for Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha.

There has been a constant war of words going on regarding the Ram Temple issue. Built by Mughal emperor Babur in Ayodhya in 1528, the Babri Masjid was demolished allegedly by Hindu activists on December 6, 1992. The activists claimed that the mosque was constructed after destroying a Ram temple which originally stood there.

On October 29, the Supreme Court adjourned the Ayodhya title suit until next year to fix a date for the hearing. The court was hearing the matter which challenged the 2010 ruling of the Allahabad High Court which divided the disputed land into three parts.