5-judge bench of Supreme Court to hear Ayodhya case today

Lucknow: A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, will hear the contentious Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case today.

The other four judges on the bench are Justice SA Bobde, Justice NV Ramana, Justice UU Lalit and Justice DY Chandrachud.

Among the first decisions to be taken by the bench will be deciding the schedule for title dispute and decide whether it should be taken up on a daily basis.

The ruling BJP, some of its allies and right-wing organisations want a special order to enable the start of the construction before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Last year, the Supreme Court refused an early hearing of the case, rejecting the Uttar Pradesh government’s plea for speedy hearings with CJI Gogoi saying the court had its “own priorities”.

If the top court, however, decides today on daily or frequent hearing in the case, it can be seen as a shot for the people who are demanding a resolution to the issue for the general elections polls.

The decision on the title suit, pending for six decades and at the heart of India's most politically divisive row, comes amid demands to speed up the plan to build a Ram temple at the site where the 16th-century Babri mosque stood before it was razed by Hindu right-wing activists in 1992.