NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court today dismissed the intervention application of 32 eminent persons in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case and fixed the next date of hearing for March 23.
The court also barred BJP leader Subramanian Swamy from intervening in the case.
The court rejected the application by 32 eminent persons, including Shyam Benegal, Aparna Sen, Anil Dharkar and Teesta Setalvad, who had sought to argue to put the 2.77 acre disputed land to ‘secular’ use rather than religious use by adjudicating the dispute between Hindu and Muslim groups.
With its order of dismissal of the intervention applications, the SC trimmed the dispute to strictly between those who were parties to the suits before Allahabad High Court.
The Allahabad HC had divided the 2.77 acre disputed land equally between three parties – deity Ram Lalla, Sunni Waqf Board and Nirmohi Akhara – in its 2010 judgment.
The court also expressed its inability to facilitate an outside settlement of the dispute, saying that it was up to the parties involved in the matter.
“We can’t ask anyone to settle and we can’t say no to settlement. If lawyers of both sides stand up and tell us they’ve settled the issue, we’ll record it. We can’t appoint or suggest anyone for settlement. How can we do this in a case like this,” the court said.