Why in news?

The Supreme Court ordered a court-supervised mediation to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute in 8 weeks.

What is the core dispute?

• The dispute over the site at Ayodhya has been continuing since 1949.
• A 16th century mosque stood at Ayodhya until it was torn down by Hindutva fanatics in December 1992.
• After the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the President referred the matter to the Supreme Court.
• The court was to look into the question of whether there was a temple to Lord Ram before the mosque was built at the site.
• The court, in a landmark decision in 1994, declined to go into that question.
• However, it revived the title suits to decide on the ownership of the site and, thereby, restored due process and the rule of law.
• The Supreme Court recently took up appeals against the 2010 verdict of the Allahabad High Court which ordered a three-way division of the disputed site.

What is the court's order now?

• The Court sought the views of the parties on invoking Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) which deals with mediation.
• [Under Section 89 the court can order for a settlement among the parties.
• The court may reformulate the terms of a possible settlement and refer the same for -

1. arbitration
2. conciliation
3. judicial settlement including settlement through Lok Adalat
4. mediation]

• A five-judge constitution bench finally went for mediation and appointed former Supreme Court judge justice (retd) F.M.I. Kalifulla as the chairperson of the panel of mediators.
• The other two members are spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.
• The mediation proceedings will be held in-camera in Faizabad which adjoins Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
• To ensure the success of the mediation process, the apex court directed that “utmost confidentiality" be maintained.
• It also barred both print and electronic media from reporting the proceedings.
• Hindu bodies, except the Nirmohi Akhara, have opposed mediation, while Muslim bodies have supported it.

How effective will mediation be?

• Mediation is a welcome option for those involved in prolonged civil disputes.
• However, it is questionable whether this principle can be applied to all disputes and in all situations.
• Mediation in Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute is quite strange and incongruous.
• This is because a number of attempts at mediation have been made in the past and all such previous attempts have ended in failure.
• Further, the case is ripe for final hearing, and not all parties favoured mediation.
• Moreover, the inclusion of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as one of the mediators is controversial.
• In the past, he has made remarks to the effect that Muslims ought to give up their claim and that the failure to find a negotiated settlement will result in “civil war”.

Why is the order welcome still?

• The apex court itself is not very keen on pronouncing a judgement on the issue.
• It's because it is less of a legal issue and more a matter of sentiments and faith.
• A compromise among both will indeed be preferable to a court order that may leave one side aggrieved.
• An appreciable feature of the court-mandated mediation attempt is that it will not consume much time.
• The same eight weeks are needed for preparation for the final hearing.
• Moreover, the confidentiality rule will be helpful in avoiding any unrest with premature disclosures, especially during election times.