The Supreme Court has started hearing the Ayodhya dispute case on a day-to-day basis starting August 6, 2019. After the end of the deadline for mediation on July 31, 2019, the court had been informed that no headway was made in securing a solution acceptable to all parties.
The case is being heard by a five member bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice SA Bobde, Justice DY Chandrchud, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice SA Nazeer. On the very first day of the hearings, the apex court was told by the Nimrohi Akhada, one of the parties in the case that no Muslim had been allowed inside the structure since 1934 and that the area had been in possession of the akhada for hundreds of years. However, in response the SC cited the Allahabad High Court order that said Muslims were offering namaaz at the site before 1934.
The question of ownership versus possession was also raised to which the akhada said that their ownership was due to possession. A 2010 judgment by the Allahabad High Court had equally divided the 2.77 acre land between the Nimrohi Akhada, the Sunni Waqf Board and the deity Ram Lalla. The question of proof of the existence of a temple at the disputed site was also raised. It is noteworthy that an excavation carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India in 2003 had revealed the existence of a structure resembling a north Indian style temple under the Babri mosque structure.
Hearings will continue on Wednesday August 7.