Chennai/Bengaluru: Supreme Court yesterday referred the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for mediation by a panel headed by former Supreme Court judge F M I Kallifulla.
The panel has been given eight weeks to complete the process. The panel also comprises spiritual teacher Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.
A 5-Judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi passed the order for forming a mediation committee. It is to be noted that all the three panel members are from Tamilnadu.
Speaking about this, Kallifulla, who had also earlier served as a Madras High Court judge, said, “For the present, I can only say that if the committee has been constituted, we will take every step to resolve the dispute amicably,”
Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar said that all must move together towards ending long-standing conflicts happily by maintaining harmony in society. “I think this will be good for the country, mediation is the only way.”
Panchu, who is regarded as a pioneer in the mediation movement, said that he was given a serious responsibility by the court and that he would do his best. Panchu has mediated a number of cases earlier, notable of them is the boundary dispute between Assam and Nagaland. In 2005, he had founded ‘The Mediation Chambers,’ which is India’s first court-annexed mediation centre. He has written many books on mediation, including the manual ‘Mediation: Practice and Law.’