Senior advocate Rajiv Dhavan, the counsel for the Muslim parties in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute, today objected to daily hearings in the case and said that the matter cannot be 'rushed through'.

“We will not be able to assist the court. Hearing cannot be rushed through,” he told the bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

Other than Chief Justice Gogoi, who retires on November 17, the bench comprises Justices S.A. Bobde, D.Y. Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S.A. Nazeer.

This website spoke to two Supreme Court lawyers who are following the case proceedings. They are linked to the case but did not want to be named.

Both said that hearing a case every day was an unusual practice. In recent times, the lawyers said, it had happened only once when Justice J.S. Khehar had headed a five-judge Constitution bench that took up the instant triple talaq case in a six-day on-the-trot hearing. But at that time, the court was in its summer vacation. “And it was done with the consent of the advocates,” one of the lawyers said.

He also pointed out that despite working full-strength now, the apex court was short of three benches, leading to a loss of hearings in about 180 cases.

On Mondays and Fridays, the courts take up fresh cases for admission.

Dhavan argued that the daily hearings would make it difficult for the counsel to prepare for the case. The apex court is hearing first appeals after the Allahabad High Court delivered the verdict, Dhavan told the bench, according to a PTI report. Being a first appeal, documentary evidence has to be studied, he added. 'Perhaps, except Justice Chandrachud, other judges might not have read the judgment (Allahabad High Court's),' PTI quoted him as telling the court.

Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be divided equally among the three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

The bench today initially dismissed the reservations expressed by Dhavan. “Hearing in the Ayodhya case will continue on a day-to-day basis as was ordered earlier,” it said, but later clarified that Dhavan would get a mid-week break if he needed one when his submissions began.

The court is currently hearing the submissions of K. Parasaran, a senior advocate representing Ram Lalla Virajmaan.