SC cancels Jan 29 hearing on Ayodhya land dispute case due to non-availability of judge
New Delhi, Jan 27: The Supreme Court Sunday cancelled the January 29 hearing in the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute case as one member of the five-judge Constitution bench would not be available.
The sitting of the Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi stands cancelled as Justice S A Bobde will not be available on January 29, as per a notice issued by the Supreme Court registry.
"Take notice that due to non availability of Justice S A Bobde on January 29, 2019 (Tuesday), sitting of Constitution bench in Chief Justice's court, comprising the Chief Justice, Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer, stands cancelled.
"Therefore, Constitution bench matter will not be taken up for hearing," the notice stated.
The five-judge bench was re-constituted on January 25 as Justice U U Lalit, who was a member of the original bench, had recused himself from hearing the matter.
When the new bench was constituted, Justice N V Ramana was also excluded from the re-constitution bench.
No reason was cited for the exclusion of Justice Ramana in the new Constitution bench.
Besides the CJI, the new bench comprises justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.
In the fresh bench, justices Bhushan and Nazeer made a come back to hear the matter.
Both of them were part of a earlier bench headed by then CJI Dipak Misra (now retired).It had on September 27, 2018, refused to refer to a five-judge Constitution bench the reconsideration of the observation in its 1994 judgment that a mosque was not integral to Islam.
While Misra and Bhushan had said it has to find out the context in which the five-judge bench had delivered the 1994 judgment, Justice Nazeer had given a minority verdict disagreeing with the two judges.
Nazeer had said whether a mosque is integral to Islam has to be decided considering religious belief which requires detailed consideration.
On January 10, Justice Lalit had recused himself after expressing disinclination to participate in the hearing any further as he had appeared as a lawyer for former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh in a related matter "sometime in the year 1997".
Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among three parties the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
On January 10, the bench in its order had noted that the apex court registry's secretary general has informed the CJI that in four suits, out of which these appeals have arisen, in all 120 issues have been framed for trial and a total of 88 witnesses were examined.
It had noted that depositions of witnesses run into 13,886 pages and a total of 257 documents exhibited.
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UP: Fake IAS officer marries woman, flees with Rs 15 lakh dowry
Gorakhpur (UP) (PTI): A newly married man fled with the Rs 15 lakh given to him as dowry by the bride's family, and it came to light later that he was an alleged serial scammer, police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Pritam Kumar Nishad from Etawah, allegedly posed as an IAS officer to deceive the woman into marrying him. He is currently absconding with his sister, and a case has been filed against him for cheating, dowry harassment, and forgery, officials said.
According to the police, the woman's family claimed that they spent nearly Rs 30 lakh for the wedding that was solemnised on March 11.
The match was arranged through a matrimonial group, where the accused introduced himself as an IAS officer, sharing purported interview clips, office visuals, and photographs with politicians to gain the family's trust.
Despite initially claiming he would marry without dowry, the accused allegedly demanded Rs 15 lakh shortly before the engagement. The bride's family paid Rs 10 lakh in cash during the engagement and the remaining Rs 5 lakh on the wedding day, the police said.
The fraud came to light on Saturday after the woman reached Etawah, and a wedding attendee informed the family that the accused was not a civil servant. When her relatives visited the address provided by him, they found her in a small rented room, while the accused and his sister had fled, the police added.
The woman has also alleged that the accused planned to take her to Goa and sell her, and accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
The police suspect that the accused may have been involved in multiple such marriages in the past. Based on a complaint lodged at the cantonment police station, an FIR was registered on Saturday evening.
Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Kaustubh said efforts are underway to arrest the accused.
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