Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, representing the Muslim parties in the case, tore up a pictorial map.
The apex court had on July 11 sought a report on the mediation process and said that a day-to-day hearing might commence from July 25 if the court decides to conclude the mediation proceedings.
They might have been fighting in the courts for ages to stake their respective claims over the much-debated Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya, but the rivals have heartily welcomed the view taken by the apex court on the issue.
Apart from the chief minister and deputy chief minister, 13 cabinet and 10 ministers of state were allocated portfolios.
As we wave goodbye to 2019, we look back at the highlights of the year, in the numbers that made it memorable.
Representatives of the Shia community on Wednesday flatly rejected Vishwa Hindu Parishad chief Ashok Singhal's offer to hold talks on the Ayodhya issue.Singhal had said that since the Allahabad high court had dismissed the Sunni Waqf Board's suit staking claim to the disputed Ramjanma bhoomi- Babri Masjid land in Ayodhya, the VHP would now hold talks with Shia organisations. "The VHP is now trying to incite a confrontation between Shias and Sunnis," said a Shia cleric.
The Muslim Community has reacted with shock at the latest verdict of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court, which ruled that the disputed site is indeed Ram Janmabhoomi and dismissed the suit filed by the Sunni Central Waqf Board as it was barred by limitation.
Batting for minority rights, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday cautioned people against forces weakening the country's secular ethos and said communal harmony should not be disturbed over small, local incidents.
The appropriate bench will fix the schedule with regard to the hearing of appeals in the case. "We will fix the date of hearing of Ayodhya dispute case before the appropriate bench in January," the CJI said.
The apex court, which delivered a historic unanimous judgment putting the curtains down on the vexatious legal battle that has torn the social fabric of the nation, said citizens of all faiths, beliefs and creeds 'seeking divine provenance' are both subject to law and equal before law under the Indian Constitution.
Modi also berated the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine in Bihar, calling it an alliance of "double-double yuvraj" (two crown princes) whose sole concern was to protect their "respective thrones".
'It is not the duty of government to protect minority religions or promote it.'
The Board has already made it clear that it will not go in for a compromise as suggested by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court, which delivered its verdict on the issue on Thursday last.
"The matter is to be settled now by the Supreme Court. We cannot accept the sharing formula, which has been ordered/suggested by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court," says Zafaryab Jilani, chief counsel for the Sunni Central Waqf Board, in an interview.
Lawyers for one of the petitioners in the case, the Waqf Board, told Rediff.com that the Supreme Court's decision will be communicated to the high court based on which the date for the verdict will be fixed.
Uttar Pradesh's powerful minister Azam Khan will host a gala event on the occasion of Samajwadi Party founder and president Mulayam Singh Yadav's 75th birthday in Rampur on Friday and Saturday.
With this allocation of portfolios, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP has got most of the 'plum' ministries.
Amid government moves for a re-look at criminalising homosexuality, several Muslim leaders have said any attempt to legally permit unnatural sex is an attack on religious and moral values.
Justice S A Bobde will not be available on January 29.
The bench will be headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and also comprise of Justices S A Bobde, N V Ramana, U U Lalit and D Y Chandrachud.
Dhavan took to Facebook to disclose that he has been removed from further participation in the Ayodhya case on the 'nonsensical' ground that he is unwell.
The Supreme Court constituted three-member mediation committee, tasked with exploring the possibility of an amicable settlement in the decades-old, politically sensitive, Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, has submitted its interim report in a sealed cover.
Here are some of the reactions to the Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya.
The Allahabad high court, in its judgment of 2010 on four civil lawsuits, had partitioned the 2.77-acre disputed land in Ayodhya equally among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal have announced that they will mark the day as Shaurya Diwas and Vijay Diwas (day of victory) and have asked the people to light earthen lamps as on Diwali.
'It is we who elected both the literate M K Stalin and the illiterate Golma Devi, and it is we who must endure the consequences.'
All political parties have appeal for peace and harmony.
'How can someone who has never been associated with the movement and never had darshan of Ram Lalla mediate on the matter of temple construction? We have gone to jail for it, faced house arrest and have been fighting court cases. Sri Sri does not qualify to mediate on the matter.'
The apex court requested the committee to inform it by August 1 about the outcome of the proceedings held till July 31.
The government had earlier issued a notice to Singh, seeking an explanation on whose ordered its office boundary wall to be painted saffron and why it was subsequently repainted.
'If better sense prevails, Muslims should offer the disputed land in Ayodhya back to the government.'
Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari and Shahi Imam of Fatehpuri mosque Mufti Mukarram Ahmed also said the moon was sighted and the fasting will start from Saturday. They appealed to Muslims to perform all rituals and prayers at home during Ramzan while adhering to social distancing and lockdown norms.
The new bench comprises Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.
The BJP which stormed into Mamata Banerjee's fortress earlier this year by bagging 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats faced immense flak when the final NRC in Assam left out Bengali Hindus in large numbers.
The Akhara counsel told the apex court that their suit was basically for belongings, possession and management rights.
The fresh initiative for settlement of the Ayodhya dispute, led by a former High Court judge, has been signed by more than 10,000 Hindu and Muslims.
True, Azam Khan is being targeted rather disproportionately and also because of his Muslim identity. That must be protested and resisted. But to say that he is a big messiah, and his profit-making educational enterprise is an issue concerning all Muslims of India, is absolutely unjustified, assert Mohammad Sajjad and Md Mohammad Zeeshan Ahmad.
All India Ulema Organisation president Maulana Anjar Shah Kashmiri alleged that the verdict was a part of American conspiracy to increase its influence in West Asia.
A man tried to disrupt a high-profile government event attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday by complaining loudly that schemes meant for minorities were not being implemented on ground.
Paramilitary force personnel and state police force will be deployed and drone cameras will be used to ensure security on Friday.
