New Delhi:
As the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court starts hearing the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute case today, news Nation brings you the series of important developments in the case over the decades leading up to today.
1528: Babri Masjid built by Mir Baqi, commander of Mughal emperor Babur.
1885: Mahant Raghubir Das files plea in Faizabad district court seeking permission to build a canopy outside the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure. Court rejects plea.
1949: Idols of Ram Lalla placed under a central dome outside the disputed structure.
1950: Gopal Simla Visharad files suit in Faizabad district court for rights to worship the idols of Ram Lalla.
1950: Paramahansa Ramachandra Das files suit for continuation of worship and keeping the idols.
1959: Nirmohi Akhara files suit seeking possession of the site.
1981: UP Sunni Central Waqf Board files suit for possession of the site.
February 1, 1986: Local court orders the government to open the site for Hindu worshippers.
August 14, 1989: Allahabad HC ordered maintenance of status quo in respect of the disputed structure.
December 6, 1992: Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure demolished.
April 3, 1993: 'Acquisition of Certain Area at Ayodhya Act' passed for acquisition of land by Centre in the disputed area.
1993: Various writ petitions, including one by Ismail Faruqui, filed at Allahabad HC challenging various aspects of the Act.
October 24, 1994: SC says in the historic Ismail Faruqui case that a mosque was not integral to Islam.
April, 2002: HC begins hearing on determining who owns the disputed site.
March 13, 2003: SC says, in the Aslam alias Bhure case, no religious activity of any nature be allowed at the acquired land.
March 14: SC says interim order passed should be operative till disposal of the civil suits in Allahabad HC to maintain communal harmony.
September 30, 2010: HC, in a 2:1 majority, rules three-way division of disputed area between Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
May 9, 2011: SC stays HC verdict on Ayodhya land dispute.
February 26, 2016: Subramanian Swamy files plea in SC seeking construction of Ram Temple at the disputed site.
March 21, 2017: CJI JS Khehar suggests out-of-court settlement among rival parties.
August 7: SC constitutes three-judge bench to hear pleas challenging the 1994 verdict of the Allahabad HC.
August 8: UP Shia Central Waqf Board tells SC mosque could be built in a Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the disputed site.
September 11: SC directs Chief Justice of the Allahabad HC to nominate two additional district judges within ten days as observers to deal with the upkeep of the disputed site.
November 20: UP Shia Central Waqf Board tells SC temple can be built in Ayodhya and mosque in Lucknow.
December 1: Thirty-two civil rights activists file plea challenging the 2010 verdict of the Allahabad HC.
February 8, 2018: SC starts hearing the civil appeals.
March 14: SC rejects all interim pleas, including Swamy's, seeking to intervene as parties in the case.
April 6: Rajeev Dhavan files plea in SC to refer the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgement to a larger bench.
July 6: UP government tells SC some Muslim groups were trying to delay the hearing by seeking reconsideration of an observation in the 1994 verdict.
July 20: SC reserves verdict.
September 27: SC declines to refer the case to a five-judge Constitution bench. Case to be heard by a newly constituted three-judge bench on October 29.
October: The Supreme Court decides that the land dispute case will only be listed before an “appropriate Bench” in January 2019. In what is seen as a setback to the BJP leaders pressing for a speedy disposal of the title suit, a Bench consisting Chief Justice Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph says, “the appropriate Bench will fix the schedule with regard to the hearing of appeals in the case”.
January 4, 2019: The Supreme Court defers hearing a bunch of petitions in the Ayodhya title dispute case till January 10. “Further orders will be passed by an appropriate bench on January 10 for fixing the date of hearing the matter,” the Bench says.
January 8, 2019: The Supreme Court sets up a five-judge Constitution Bench to hear the land dispute case.
January 10, 2019: A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court hears the Ayodhya land title dispute case, sets January 29 as the next date for hearing in the case.
January 29, 2019: The Supreme Court puts out a notice that the Constitution Bench hearing the Ayodhya title suit appeals will not be sitting on January 29 as one of the judges, Justice SA Bobde, is not available on the day. The one-paragraph notice said the Constitution Bench is cancelled on January 29 due to the "non-availability" Justice Bobde.
March 8, 2019: On March 8, the Supreme Court orders mediation for the ‘permanent solution’ of the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the mediation process will be held in Faizabad on-camera but barred media from reporting the proceedings.
May 10, 2019: Two months after it referred the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya for mediation, the Supreme Court will hear the case on Friday.
