The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its order on whether the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute can be settled through mediation.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi heard the contesting parties.
The bench, also comprising Justices S.A. Bobde, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S.A. Nazeer, heard submissions from various Hindu and Muslim bodies.
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.
Earlier, the Supreme Court has said it was conscious of the gravity of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute and the outcome of mediation on the body politic of the country.
The bench said the case was not only about property, but also about sentiment and faith.
'It is not only about property. It is about mind, heart and healing, if possible,” it said. 'We are not concerned about what Mughal ruler Babur had done and what happened after. We can go into what exists in the present moment.'