Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
The Supreme Court Friday referred the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for mediation and appointed former apex court judge Justice (retd) F M I Kallifulla as chairperson of the panel of mediators. A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the other members of the panel will be spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.
The bench directed that the mediation will be held at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and the process should start within a week from Friday.The bench also comprising justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer said the panel of mediators will file a progress report of the mediator proceedings within four weeks and the process should be completed within eight weeks.
The apex court said that "utmost confidentiality" should be maintained to ensure success of mediation and neither print nor electronic media should report the proceedings.The bench also directed that panel of mediators can co-opt more members in the team and in case of any difficulty the chairman will inform the apex court registry about it.
Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
With PTI inputs
1. Chairman of panel: Retired SC Justice FM I Kalifulla
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The chairman of the panel is FM I Kalifulla.
He is a former SC judge who retired in 2016. Starting legal profession as an advocate in 75, Kalifulla became Madras HC judge in 2000. Later in 2011, he first became the acting Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir HC and then in September 2011, became the Chief Justice of J&K HC. He was elevated to SC on April 2012.
As an advocate, he was an active labour law practitioner.
Speaking about his appointment, he said: "I understand that SC has appointed mediation committee headed by me. I am yet to receive the order copy. For the present I can say that if committee has been constituted we will take every effort resolve the issue amicably."
2. Sriram Panchu
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Sriram Panchu is a senior lawyer who is known for being an acclaimed mediator. Panchu also runs The Mediation Chambers which offers mediation services. As a pioneer in the field, he is president of Association of Indian Mediators. He is also part of international mediation bodies.
Speaking about his responsibility he said: "It is a very serious responsibility given to me by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. I will do my best."
Singapore international mediation institute in its bio of Sriram Panchu has written, "Mr Panchu has broad experience in mediating disputes between parties of different cultures and nationalities. He mediated the Standard Motors case which recorded one of the highest settlements in court-annexed mediations. In the private mediation field, he has handled disputes involving major enterprises.
Apart from his conventional law practice and mediation, he has done a number of public interest cases in the fields of good governance, curbing corruption, environmental protection and consumer rights."
He was earlier roped in by Supreme Court to mediate a boundary dispute between Assam and Meghalaya. SC also appointed him mediator in a dispute among the Parsi Community in Mumbai.
3. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
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Spiritual Guru and Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will be part of the Supreme Court mediation panel in the Ayodhya case.
This is how he reacted to SC's appointment in the mediation panel:
Respecting everyone, turning dreams to reality, ending long-standing conflicts happily and maintaining harmony in society - we must all move together towards these goals.#ayodhyamediation
— Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (@SriSri) March 8, 2019
Prior to today's hearing by the Supreme Court, Ravi Shankar on March 6 took to his Twitter account and said, "This move towards mediation by the Supreme Court is in the best interest of the country and all parties concerned. We should keep our egos and differences aside and come together with a spirit of honouring & accommodating the sentiments of the communities concerned."
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was one among those who suggested that Ayodhya matter should be resolved through mediation talks.Earlier in November 2018, while responding to petitioners Haji Mahboob and Mohommad Omar and signing the letter of support for an out of court settlement, "I have spoken to many people and they have agreed to go for an out of court settlement. I am pushing it in a very harmonious manner so that both communities live in harmony."
After Supreme Court of India's suggestion for an out-of-court settlement, Sri Sri proposed a mutual compromise where both communities "gift" neighbouring pieces of land to each other. This proposal was met with a lot of skepticism and resistance.
Earlier in February 2018, Sri Sri pushed for a renewed mediation talks in Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute and made a surprise visit to UP CM Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur.
