For Supreme Court, Ayodhya is a land dispute

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday made it clear that it will deal with the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case “purely as a land dispute” and posted the batch of 14 appeals for hearing from March 14. The bench also expressed its reservation on hearing the matter on day-to-day basis and said, once the matter will start it will go on in normal course. “Over 700 poor litigants (in other cases) are waiting for justice, we have to hear them also. Devoting one-and-half hour every day will help in disposing of these cases,” the bench said.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices Ashok Bhushan and Abdul Nazeer deferred the hearing when it was brought to the notice of the court that certain transcripts were yet to be translated into English. The Bench while granting two weeks for completion of translation asked the Registry to supply copies of videos of Archaeological Survey of India, which were submitted as evidence before the Allahabad High Court.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the UP government submitted that 504 transcripts including Ramayana, Bhagwad Gita and Mahabharata and other scriptures had already been translated into English and furnished.  Depositions and statements of 87 witnesses had also been brought on the record. However, counsel for one of the Muslim parties said some documents were yet to be translated and the court gave two weeks for its completion.