SC orders media for Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Friday said decades-old Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute will be settled through mediation. A three member mediation committee – including former Supreme Court judge, Justice FM Ibrahim Kalifulla and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar – would meet all the petitioners at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh. The committee has been given a month, after which a report has to be submitted to the court, said the five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
“Mediation will take place. We don’t see any legal obstruction to it,” said Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi while delivering the order. “Mediation proceedings will remain confidential. There would be no reporting in any media,” he added.
Justice (retired) Khalifulla would be the chairperson of the committee, of which senior advocate Sriram Panchu would be the third member. If the mediators want, they can induct more members in the committee, the court said.