SC refers Ayodhya land dispute for mediation
New Delhi, Mar 8: The Supreme Court Friday referred the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for mediation and appointed former apex court judge Justice (retd) F M I Kalifulla as chairperson of the panel of mediators.
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the other members of the panel will be spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.
The bench directed that the mediation will be held at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and the process should start within a week from Friday.
The bench also comprising justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer said the panel of mediators will file a progress report of the mediator proceedings within four weeks and the process should be completed within eight weeks.
The apex court said that "utmost confidentiality" should be maintained to ensure success of mediation and neither print nor electronic media should report the proceedings.
The bench also directed that panel of mediators can co-opt more members in the team and in case of any difficulty the chairman will inform the apex court registry about it.
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 the three parties the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.
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Senior Congress MLA, former Minister Shamanuru Shivashankarappa passes away
Bengaluru (PTI): Veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa passed away at a private hospital here on Sunday due to age-related ailments, official sources said.
He was 95 and represented the Davanagere South Assembly constituency. He had been undergoing treatment at the hospital for some time.
Shivashankarappa is survived by three sons, including S S Mallikarjun, Karnataka Minister for Mines and Geology and Horticulture, and four daughters.
His daughter-in-law, Prabha Mallikarjun, is the Member of Parliament from Davanagere.
A former minister, Shivashankarappa, served as treasurer of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for several decades and was the president of the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of the influential Veerashaiva-Lingayat community.
He was also a noted educationist who established several educational institutions and was an industrialist.
