Supreme Court to pronounce verdict in Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case tomorrow

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Saturday its verdict in the politically sensitive case of Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute in Ayodhya.

The apex court is likely to pronounce judgment at 10.30am in the morning.

A notice regarding the pronouncement of judgement by a Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, was uploaded on the official website of the Supreme Court late Friday evening.

Other members of the bench are Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer.

The bench on October 16 had reserved the judgement after marathon hearing of 40 days.

Hours before the notice, the CJI held a meeting with Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari and DGP Om Prakash Singh who apprised him about the security arrangements made to maintain law and order in the state.

The meeting was held in the CJI’s chamber, sources said.

The apex court had on August 6 commenced day-to-day proceedings in the case as the mediation proceedings initiated to find the amicable resolution had failed.

It had taken note of the report of the three-member panel, comprising Justice FMI Kallifulla, spiritual guru and founder of the Art of Living foundation Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior advocate and renowned mediator Sriram Panchu, that mediation proceedings, which went on for about four months, did not result in any final settlement and it had to decide the matter pending before it.

Multi-layered security arrangements have been put in place in the temple town of Ayodhya with drones being used to monitor the situation ahead of the apex court judgment in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case.

Elaborating on the security arrangements, additional director general of police (Law and Order) PV Ramasastry told PTI, “Adequate forces have been provided to Ayodhya and all sensitive districts of the state in good measure. The force has been sufficiently strengthened in terms of CAPF and PAC companies.”

He said not only their number had been increased but the efficiency of the deployed forces was also being improved for the past two months by giving them better equipment and training.

Apart from this, senior officers were also involved in planning, he said. When asked whether drone cameras will be used for monitoring purposes, Ramasastry said, “Drone cameras are being used in the preparatory phase so that the deployment of the forces can be planned correctly.”

He said drone cameras would also be used to closely monitor vulnerable spots and rooftops to prevent the accumulation of stones