Ayodhya judge dissents on plea to defer

On Friday,the Bench rejected the plea,filed by defendant Ramesh Chandra Tripathi,for deferring the judgment. Tripathi had also asked the court to direct the parties to resolve the dispute through mediation.

Justice Sharma disagreed with the Bench’s decision to impose a Rs 50,000 fine on Tripathi. “I respectfully disagree with the views taken by my brother judges. There is no provision under the law through which a penalty of Rs 50,000 can be imposed for making the application to relegate the matter for mediation under Section 89 CPC,” he wrote,adding that the penalty cannot exceed Rs 3,000.“I am sorry to state that at the time of the passing of order,I was not consulted,otherwise I would have given my views to hon’ble brother judges,referred to above,” he said.

The Bench had ruled that Tripathi’s application was a “clear attempt to divert,deviate and also to create obstruction in final disposal of this case after more than six decades”.

But Justice Sharma,in his dissent note,wrote: “I am unable to form any opinion that the application lacks bona fide and has been moved to divert,deviate and also to create obstruction in the final disposal of this matter,especially under the circumstances when the

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