After efforts to arrive at a common ground through mediation failed in the contentious Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case in Ayodhya, the Supreme Court begun its day-to-day hearing on the case today. The hearing will be conducted on daily basis by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. On July 18 the apex court asked the mediation panel to inform the court about the outcome of their proceedings till July 31.

The Supreme Court also turned down former BJP leader and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue KN Govindacharya’s plea seeking live streaming or audio/video recording of the day-to-day proceedings in the case  saying it was not feasible now. The bench comprising Justices SA Bobde and BR Gavai said, “We don’t know if we have equipment for live streaming or recording of proceedings.”

The plea cited the Supreme Court’s September 2018 judgement which ruled that SC proceedings must be live streamed. It said that despite around a year having gone by, the implementation of the SC ruling in the matter was yet to take place. In his petition Govindacharya said, “This case is a matter of national importance. There are crores of people, including the petitioner, who want to witness proceedings before this court, but cannot do the same due to the present norms of the Supreme Court.”

“If live streaming is not feasible as of now, then the proceedings can be recorded on audio or video by the court officers and transcripts of the court proceedings can be released on the top court website later on,” the plea said. He said that people were desperate for early justice in the Ram Temple matter, wherein Lord Ram was kept in a makeshift tent for the past many years.

“This matter has been pending in the Supreme Court for the last nine years, and the public at large is interested in knowing the reasons behind the delay in deciding the cases,” the petitioner further added.

The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute involves 2.77 acres of land in Ayodhya, where a 16th Century mosque allegedly built by Mughal emperor Babur stood. In December 1992, the mosque was demolished by Hindu activists who believed that it was built on the ruins of a temple that marked the birthplace of Lord Ram. The incident sparked riots across the country leading to death of  almost 2,000 people.