New Delhi, India - India's Supreme Court Tuesday gave the green light for a verdict on a long-standing land dispute surrounding a mosque that led to widespread riots in 1992.
A court in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh was to have delivered its verdict Friday on the ownership of land in the town of Ayodhya claimed by both Hindus and Muslims.
A 15th century mosque that stood on the site was pulled down by Hindu fanatics in 1992, leading to riots across the country in which over 2,000 people died.
The Hindus claim the site was the birthplace of their god Ram and want to build a temple at the site.
The Supreme Court on September 23 deferred the verdict by a week while it heard a petition by a retired bureaucrat asking for further efforts to reach a compromise.
Both the Hindu Mahasabha and the Sunni Central Waqf Board, the two main parties to the title suit, along with most parties to the case, wanted a speedy end to the trial and pleaded against deferring the verdict.
Their legal representatives told the court that there was little chance of a compromise.
The court hearing the case in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow will now set a fresh date to hand down the verdict.
One of the judges on the three-member bench is scheduled to retire at the end of September. If the verdict is not pronounced by then, it could be delayed by months, legal experts said. The Supreme Court could, however, extend the retiring judge's tenure.
The government beefed up security in Ayodhya and other towns in Uttar Pradesh as well as areas with a history of communal violence in anticipation of the verdict.
Bulk mobile messaging services were banned across the country for a week until September 29 and both the federal cabinet and Home Minister P Chidambaram made public appeals for calm after the expected verdict, saying either party could appeal to a higher court. dpa su se im Author: Sunrita Sen