NEW DELHI, Sept 23 � The Supreme Court Thursday ordered an interim stay till September 28 on the pronouncement of the Ayodhya verdict by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court.
The high court was due to deliver its verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi title suit Friday.
An apex court bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice H.L. Gokhale, while issuing notice to all the parties to the title suit, asked Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati to be present in the court
when the case is heard September 28.
The ruling followed a petition of retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi for postponing the high court verdict till at least the end of the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games. It also sought the court�s direction to the parties to explore the possibilities of an out-of-court amicable settlement.
However, there was a divergence of views on the issue in the apex court bench.
Pronouncing the order, Justice Raveendran said that one member of the bench was of the view that the special leave petition be dismissed and the other was of the view that notice be issued to parties and the high court decision be stayed.
Justice Raveendran said that according to the convention, whenever one member of the bench wanted notice to be issued to related parties and another member wanted to dismiss the petition, notice is issued.
