Sunni Waqf Board seeks to withdraw from Ayodhya case

In a surprising development, the Sunni Waqf Board on Wednesday sent a proposal to Supreme Court-appointed mediation panel seeking to withdraw from the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case. It is to be noted that the hearing in this case concluded on Wednesday (October 16). The chairman of Sunni Waqf Board sent the proposal to Shriram Panchu, who is one of the members of the SC-appointed three-member mediation panel.

Notably, the SC did not hold any discussion on Sunni Waqf Board's proposal and continued with its proceedings in the matter. There are a total of seven Muslim parties in this case, out of which Shia Waqf Board has already told the SC that it is in favour of construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site. The other six Muslim parties, in this case, are Sunni Waqf Board, Hashim Ansari/Iqbal Ansari, M Siddiq, Misbahuddin, Farukh Ahmed and Maulana Mehfuzur Rahman

Earlier on Wednesday, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi directed both the parties to conclude arguments in this case by 5 PM. The SC witnessed high drama on Tuesday when senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, representing the Sunni Waqf Board, tore up papers and maps submitted by counsel of All India Hindu Mahasabha Vikas Singh.

The incident happened when Singh placed a book 'Ayodhya revisited' authored by Kunal Kishore in front of the bench. Dhavan objected to the presentation of the contents of the book on record and tore the pages in front of the SC bench. 

The case is being heard by a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by CJI Gogoi. He had earlier set the deadline to finish arguments on October 18, which the bench later rescheduled to October 17. It is expected that the judgment, in this case, would be passed before the retirement of CJI Gogoi. It may be recalled that CJI Gogoi is set to retire on November 17.