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The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear a plea to defer the Ayodhya verdict that is scheduled to be delivered on September 24. An apex court Bench refused to hear the petition filed by retired bureaucrat Ramesh Chandra Tripathi and said the matter would be taken up by another bench. Tripathi, who had earlier lost his plea before the Allahabad High Court, approached the apex court, saying the verdict should be deferred till the end of the Commonwealth Games. The petition also says that a large number of forces were needed to contain possible fallout as the verdict may result in communal tension, but the forces are busy in CWG, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar elections. Last Friday, the Special Bench of the Allahabad High Court had rejected a plea for deferment of the verdict and imposed a heavy fine on Tripathi. The court had earlier reserved its judgment on July 26 in connection with the 60-year-old title suit. The High Court had also imposed 'exemplary costs' of Rs. 50,000 terming Tripathi's effort for an out-of-court settlement of the dispute as a 'mischievous attempt'. On July 27, the court took the initiative for an amicable solution to the dispute when it called on counsel for the contending parties to go into the possibility. But no headway was made. The demolition of the 16th century mosque triggered widespread communal riots across the country in 1992-93.

Supreme Court refuses to hear plea to defer Ayodhya verdict