The Chief Justice of India said that the mediation on the Ayodhya issue has failed. There will be daily hearing on the case from 6th August onward. “The mediation panel has not been able to achieve any final settlement,” CJI Ranjan Gogoi said.
On March 8, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had referred the long-standing Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute for mediation. The mediation panel was chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice FMI Kalifulla, along with spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior Advocate Sriram Panchu. The panel had submitted their observations in a sealed envelop yesterday.
The top court had tasked the panel with the responsibility to explore the possibility of an amicable settlement of the decades-old issue. In May, the top court had given extra timeto the panel till August 15 to find a solution after the chairman of the mediation panel, Justice FM Khalifullah had sought more time for the mediation process.
The apex court had directed the mediation proceedings shall be kept confidential and that there should not any reporting of the said proceedings either in the print or in the electronic media during the process of mediation, which was decided to be held in-camera.