Ayodhya Case mediation: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered to set up a three-member committee for mediation in the long pending contentious Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case. The panel will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice FM Kalifulla and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and mediation expert Sriram Panchu will be the other two members.
The Supreme Court asked the mediation panel to start the process within a week and submit its first report within four weeks. The apex court has set 8-week time frame for the panel to complete the whole process which will be held in Faizabad.
“The panel of mediators may co-opt more members and in case of any difficulty they can inform apex court registry. Utmost confidentiality should be maintained to ensure success of mediation proceedings,” the Supreme Court bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi said. It also restrained the media from reporting the mediation process.
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Ayodhya case: Who are the three mediators
Justice FM Kalifulla: The Supreme Court appointed mediation panel in Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case will be headed by Justice (retired) Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla. He is a former judge of the Supreme Court. Born in Sivagangai district of Tamil Nadu, Justice Kalifulla served in the Supreme Court from April 2012 to July 2016.
Justice Kalifulla, who enrolled as an advocate in August 1975, also served as a judge of the Madras High Court and High Court of Jammu and Kashmir. He was named as Chief Justice of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in September 2011.
Sriram Panchu: Sriram Panchu, who has been named in the Ayodhya case mediation panel, has a Bachelors degree in Economics from Elphinstone College, Mumbai. Panchu is also a law graduate from Government Law College, Mumbai.
Sriram Panchu, who was on the advisory panel on mediation, Law Commission of India, has a record of mediating in high-stake cases. He was also appointed as a mediator in the Assam-Nagaland Border dispute and a dispute concerning performance of religious ceremonies in Parsi temples.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The Art of Living founder has been associated in ‘unofficial’ mediation in the Ayodhya Ram Temple case in the past too. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has held several meetings in the past with both Muslim and Hindu parties that are part of the case. His appointment by the Supreme Court in Ayodhya mediation panel could raise a few eyebrows.
Ravi Shankar had also met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in 2017 who then said “everyone knows where the talks would lead to”, especially when the matter is pending before the Supreme Court.