CJI Bobde wanted Shah Rukh Khan to mediate Ayodhya dispute

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 23

Outgoing Chief Justice of India SA Bobde wanted Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan to join the team of mediators appointed by the Supreme Court to find an amicable solution to the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute at Ayodhya, Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh revealed on Friday.

“He asked me if Shah Rukh Khan can be a part of the committee…I spoke with SRK and he was happy to be in the mediation panel but unfortunately, mediation did not work,” Singh said during a virtual function organised by the SCBA to bid adieu to Justice Bobde.

Singh said Justice Bobde’s willingness to resolve the communally sensitive issue through mediation was noteworthy.

The Supreme Court had appointed Justice (Retd) FMI Kalifulla, spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar and senior lawyer and mediation expert Sriram Panchu to find a mediated solution to the Ayodhya dispute. But the issue had to be adjudicated upon as the mediation failed.

The Supreme Court on November 9, 2019 paved the way for construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya as a five-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi unanimously decreed the decades-old title dispute in favour of Ram Lalla.

It also ordered allotment of alternate land measuring five acre to Muslims for the construction of a mosque and associated activities within the city of Ayodhya.

In a 1045-page historic verdict, the top court reversed the Allahabad High Court’s September 30, 2010 verdict equally dividing the disputed 2.77-acre land between Ram Lalla, Nirmohi Akhara and Muslims, terming it “legally unsustainable”.

Justice Bobde was on the five-judge Constitution Bench which delivered the historic verdict on Ayodhya dispute. Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S Abdul Nazeer were the other three judges on the Bench.