CJI Ranjan Gogoi cancels foreign visit for discussions on Ayodhya verdict: Reports

Ranjan Gogoi headed the five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, which was hearing the Ayodhya land dispute case. The bench reserved its judgement on Thursday after a 40-day hearing in the case.

New Delhi: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi has decided to cancel his foreign visit later in October, media reports said on Thursday, adding that the move was taken so that there will be enough time to discuss the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid verdict.  

The Chief Justice was to visit Dubai on October 18 and from there, he was to fly out to Cairo, Brazil and New York to attend some programmes. He was scheduled to return to India on October 31. However, as per the latest reports, the multi-nation visit appears to be cancelled now. 

Gogoi headed the five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, which was hearing the Ayodhya land dispute case. The bench reserved its judgement on Thursday after a 40-day hearing in the case.

The judgement is likely to be pronounced by the apex court between November 4-15, as the Chief Justice retires from office on November 17. 

In September, Gogoi had asked the Hindu and Muslim parties to end all arguments by October 18. He had also indicated that not a day extra would be given to the parties, else giving a judgment would not be possible. The bench later rescheduled the date to October 17.

The day-to-day proceedings in the Ayodhya case began on August 6 after mediation proceedings failed to find an amicable solution to the dispute.

The four other judges, in the five-judge Constitution bench which heard the case, were Justices Sharad Arvind Bobde, Ashok Bhushan, D Y Chandrachud and S Abdul Nazeer.