Ayodhya Verdict- Not Possible Before 2019 Polls

The CJI, who retires in October, cannot give a ‘final verdict’ on Ayodhya, contrary to media speculation.

- Ushinor Majumdar

The long march to a decision on the Ayodhya dispute will have no shortstops any time before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Misleading headlines have been feeding a perception that the Supreme Court has reserved judgment on the Ayodhya dispute. In reality, however, the apex court has merely heard arguments, reserving its order, on a technical issue—should the basis for the 2010 Allahabad high Court ruling first be decided by a Constitution bench of the SC or will the 1994 Ismail Faruqui ruling apply?

Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, who retires on October 2, has heard and reserved judgment on many important matters till now. This includes the recent verdict de­criminalising homosexuality. The appeal against the 2010 Allahabad HC judgment verdict is without doubt one of the most high­profile matters pending in the top court, but it is not likely to be decided anytime soon. The issue before the CJI’s bench is more basic. The Sunni Waqf Board has argued that the Allahabad HC judgment, which split the property into three shares, is based on a 1994 constitutional bench judgment titled ‘Ismail Faruqui’ where the majority view of the judges was that “a mosque is not an essential part of the practice of the religion of Islam...”. Appearing for the Waqf Board then, senior advocate Rajiv Dhavan had said that whether a mosque was integral to the practice of Islam (or not) should be decided by a sev­ en­member constitutional bench, larger than the 1994 bench which had five judges.

Justice Misra will not get to decide the appeals against the Allahabad HC verdict before he retires. One reason is that the only point before the CJI and judges Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer—the three are part of a bench constituted by Justice J.S. Khehar last year—right now is whether the basis of the Allahabad HC ruling should go to a Constitution bench.