In Ayodhya, the scene of demolition of the mosque that triggered communal riots across the country leaving nearly 2,000 people dead, no untoward incident was reported by the police so far.\n\n\n\n
Thackeray recalled former prime minister Vajpayee as saying, Ab Hindu maat nahi khayega (Hindus will not be defeated now), and added, "Hindus will not sit silent."
The CBI has challenged the 2001 order of a Special CBI court dropping proceedings against the duo in the Babri Masjid demolition case on technical grounds.
A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K M Joseph would hear the appeals filed in the matter.
He ruled out any differences among the BJP's top echelon over the issue, saying: "The media has written enough about it but it [the speculation] will come to an end by tomorrow evening."
He, however, refused to say whether Advani, who is also involved in the Ayodhya case, should follow suit.
Called "Babuji", the former chief minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh and former Governor of Uttar Pradesh in the post-Babri Masjid demolition era was considered as a people's man and was accessible to all.
"The design of the mosque has been prepared using modern technology, and it will be egg-shaped without any dome. The two-storeyed mosque will not have any minaret. Solar power will be installed in the mosque, and around 2,000 people will be able to offer 'namaaz' at the same time," he said.
'If it is proved that a Ram temple was demolished and on the same place a masjid was constructed, I think we have got no right to be there for a moment.'
CBI counsel S S Gandhi, however, said the CBI had, 'oral evidence' against all the eight accused persons, including Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti.
The ASI has moved an application to that effect before the special Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court.
Centre's counsel Lala Ram Gupta told the Liberhan Commission that the issue is whether a temple existed on the disputed site before the construction of the Babri Mosque.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader justified the Centres decision to file a petition before the Supreme Court to speed up the case, saying the opposition wanted the case to be settled by the judiciary.
Life terms for 15 for 1993 serial train blasts
The board has decided not to oppose the governments plea for expeditious hearings in the title suit.
The Shias, however, celebrated Eid following citing of the moon on Thursday.
The Mumbai police on Thursday night denied there was any explosive in an unclaimed parcel found in Mumbai Central railway station.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
'We have reached a new low.'
'This will require statesmanship and not politicking.'
Here are some of the reactions to the apex court's decision.
The Babri mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by karsevaks on December 6, 1992.
The issue had cropped up when a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was hearing the batch of appeals filed against the Allahabad high court's 2010 verdict by which the disputed land on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid area was divided in three parts.
With a favourable report, the ASI has vindicated our stand and now there is no looking back," Mahant Nritya Gopal Das said.
"Azad saab (Ghulam Nabi Azad) had spoken on behalf of all of us that we don't accept this timeline -- we don't accept delimitation, election, statehood, we want delimitation, statehood and then election. If you want to hold polls, you'll have to restore statehood first," said Omar Abdullah.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of A G Perarivalan, who has served over 30 years of life term in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
Around 10 hoardings have been put up near the disputed land which says that Muslims want the construction of the Ram Mandir
The Supreme Court sought the Centre's response on Friday to a plea filed before it challenging the validity of certain provisions of a 1991 law, which prohibit the filing of a lawsuit to reclaim a place of worship or seek a change in its character from what prevailed on August 15, 1947.
The special bench comprising Justice Sudhir Narain, Justice Rafat Alam and Justice Bhanwar Singh held ASI's application for extension of time as premature.
