Brushing aside stout opposition from Hindu parties, the Supreme Court on Friday referred the 70-year-old Ayodhya litigation to a secret mediation process by a three-member panel which will submit a report in eight weeks, tossing the issue out of the Lok Sabha poll arena.
The dispute for ownership of the 2.77 acre land in Ayodhya has defied previous efforts for a negotiated settlement but the court said a panel headed by former SC judge F M I Kalifulla and comprising spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and well known mediator Sriram Panchu could conduct a dialogue with contending parties.
The eight-week deadline for the panel is a blow to the hopes of Hindu parties that the SC would expeditiously take up the appeal against the Allahabad High Court order dividing the plot threeways. By the time the mediation process concludes in early May, Lok Sabha elections would be in full swing and the court is unlikely to reach any conclusion before the next government is sworn in.
 

Brushing aside stout opposition from Hindu parties, the Supreme Court on Friday referred the 70-year-old Ayodhya litigation to a secret mediation process by a three-member panel which will submit a report in eight weeks, tossing the issue out of the Lok Sabha poll arena.
The dispute for ownership of the 2.77 acre land in Ayodhya has defied previous efforts for a negotiated settlement but the court said a panel headed by former SC judge F M I Kalifulla and comprising spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and well known mediator Sriram Panchu could conduct a dialogue with contending parties.
The eight-week deadline for the panel is a blow to the hopes of Hindu parties that the SC would expeditiously take up the appeal against the Allahabad High Court order dividing the plot threeways. By the time the mediation process concludes in early May, Lok Sabha elections would be in full swing and the court is unlikely to reach any conclusion before the next government is sworn in.