A Constitution bench comprising five judges and headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked, on the 25th day of the hearing, after re-assembling in the post-lunch session, senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, who is representing the Muslim parties', about their schedule to conclude the arguments in the case.
"It will help us to determine the time left for the writing the judgement on the matter," said the Chief Justice. Dhavan replied that he is looking forward to a judgement in the matter. Chief Justice Gogoi is retiring on November 17.
The Chief Justice asked Dhavan to discuss it internally with his team on the number required to complete their arguments, and then inform the court on the same. In fact, all the judge on the bench asked Dhavan to hold a discussion with the lawyers from the other side. The Constitution bench comprises Justices S.A. Bobde, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S.A. Nazeer.
Dhavan said he will be very fast in making his submissions before the court. He is arguing for Sunni Waqf Board and others including original litigant M. Siddiq. Dhavan insisted on getting a mid-week break during the hearing, and the court granted him a break on Friday.
"You can take a break. But, the other counsels on the Muslim side can continue the arguments on Friday," observed the court. Dhavan replied, "I do not intend to break my argument", and also informed the court that his team is following a strict schedule and they are definitely aware about the speed of their argument.
However, the bench remarked though he may need a break, but his young team must be up and ready to continue, and maybe they like to work hard. At the beginning of the hearing, Dhavan had said he would need at least 20 days to argue the matter.
The daily hearing on the matter commenced on August 6. Fourteen appeals have been filed in the top court against the Allahabad High Court order, which partitioned the 2.77-acre disputed land equally among Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
( With inputs from IANS )