Outgoing Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde wanted Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to be a part of the mediation panel, set up by the Supreme Court in March 2019, to resolve the Ayodhya title dispute, senior advocate Vikas Singh said Friday. Singh, the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), was speaking at the virtual farewell organised for CJI Bobde, who retired Friday. Singh was mentioning the landmark judgments pronounced by Justice Bobde at the event, and noted that Bobde was a part of the bench that delivered the verdict in the Ayodhya title dispute case on 9 November 2019. Talking about this judgment, Singh said, “While on the Ayodhya dispute, I must give out one secret between me and Justice Bobde.”
“While he was in the initial stages of the hearing, he was very firm of the view that the Ayodhya dispute should be settled by mediation… While the mediation process was on — and just see the commitment of Justice Bobde for the mediation — he asked me whether Shah Rukh Khan would be interested in participating in this mediation since he knew I knew Shah Rukh Khan’s family.” Singh went on, “I discussed this matter with Shah Rukh Khan and he was more than willing to be a part of this mediation because he felt that the best way in which Hindu-Muslims can live peacefully in this country is that there should be complete religious harmony.”“ He (Khan) suggested, in fact, that the foundation stone of the Hindu temple should be laid by some prominent Muslims and vice-versa — the foundation stone of the mosque be laid by some prominent Hindus. Unfortunately, the mediation did not go ahead,” he added. Along with Justice Gogoi, the bench also comprised Justices Bobde, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S. Abdul Nazeer. However, before continuous hearings began in the Ayodhya case, a mediation effort by a court-appointed panel was also undertaken. The panel comprised former Supreme Court judge Justice F.M.I. Kalifulla, spiritualist Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.