: Retired members of the SC constitution bench that delivered the landmark 2019 judgment in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case have been invited to Jan 22 consecration of the Ram temple.
Apart from then CJI Ranjan Gogoi, invitations have been sent to his now-retired successor SA Bobde, and former judges Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer. Current CJI D Y Chandrachud was also part of the bench.
A member of the temple trust said over 50 jurists, including nine former CJIs, judges and lawyers, were on the list of invitees.
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Senior advocate K Parasaran, who represented “Ram Lalla Virajman”, has also been invited along with solicitor general Tushar Mehta and former attorney general K K Venugopal.
In its Nov 9, 2019 verdict, the constitution bench handed the entire 2.77-acre disputed land to Ram Lalla Virajman, one of two plaintiffs from the Hindu side. The UP government was asked to give a five-acre plot elsewhere to Sunni Central Waqf Board for the construction of a mosque.
Ex-CJI Gogoi is now a Rajya Sabha MP, while Justice Bobde, who became CJI nine days after the Ayodhya verdict, retired in April 2021. Justice Bhushan retired in July 2021, and Justice Nazeer is currently governor of AP.
