A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday will decide whether to refer to a Constitution Bench the question if a mosque as a place of prayer is an essential part of Islam in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case. The decision will have a significant bearing on how soon the title suit itself could be taken up by the court.
Headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, the Bench also consists of Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer. The CJI is retiring on October 2, and the entire country will be watching his last crucial verdict with great interest.
The case deals with an appeal against the 2010 Allahabad High court verdict dividing the disputed 2.77 acres of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land in equal parts among Ram Lalla, Sunni Waqf Board and Nirmohi Akhara.
Before taking up this, the Supreme Court has to examine afresh the issue if Muslims can offer namaz or prayers anywhere, or whether a mosque is a necessary part of the Islamic practice and is required for religious assembly and prayers. In a 1994 Ismail Farooqui judgment, the Supreme Court had ruled that namaz could be offered anywhere and that a mosque was not crucial for the practice.
Muslim parties have argued that the 1994 verdict was unfair to them and the Allahabad HC judgment was based on it. On June 20, the three-judge Bench of the apex court had reserved their judgment on the issue.
They have asked to refer the matter to a Constitution Bench.
If the Supreme Court decides to revisit its 1994 judgment, then the issue of ownership of the disputed land being heard by a Constitution Bench will have to put on be put on hold till the time this case is disposed of. This will be big blow to the BJP’s plan to build a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya before 2019 Lok sabha polls.