In a break from the past, the Supreme Court took up the Ayodhya hearing on a Friday, which along with Monday has traditionally been reserved for new cases but a Muslim party objected to it saying the court should not rush through such important hearings.

As a five judge constitution bench headed by the chief justice Ranjan Gogoi took up the hearing on the contentious religious issue for the fourth consecutive day, senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for a Muslim party, raised objection to the five days hearing of the matter. “It is not possible to assist the court if it is heard on all days of the week. This is the first appeal and the hearing cannot be rushed in this manner and I am put to torture,” he told the bench, also comprising justices SA Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and SA Nazeer. The bench told Dhawan that his submissions had been noted and it will revert back to him soon.

At the end of the hearing on Thursday, the CJI had informed the lawyers for both the sides that the matter would be taken up on Friday also. Normally, the apex court registry lists fresh, miscellaneous and after notice cases for hearing before the benches. As per the guidelines followed by Supreme Court, the matters listed before Constitution benches for day-to-day hearings are put up for hearing on three days a week — Tuesday to Thursday.

—India Legal Bureau

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