BABRI MASJID PANEL JUDGE FAVOURS OUT OF COURT SOLUTION

One of the three judges in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on September 20 disagreed with the majority order that rejected the plea to defer the verdict on the Ayodhya title suit cases in order to allow mediation. He wrote a dissenting note saying an amicable settlement could have been explored. Justice Dharam Veer Sharma while not concurring with the view of the other two judges – Justice S U Khan and Justice Sudhir Agarwal – also said in his dissent note that he wasn’t consulted when the three-judge Bench gave the order while dismissing the plea for mediation. Justice Sharma favours the option of exploring mediation or an out-of-court settlement. He said after looking at the application for deferment, the only direction required to be given is that parties are free to resolve their dispute amicably by compromise before the date of delivery of the judgement. He said no interference of the court is required at this stage.