New Delhi, December 24: The Supreme Court will hear a petition filed against the delay in hearing the Ayodhya case on January 4 next year. Earlier, the Ayodhya case was scheduled to be heard in October, but a bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph postponed the hearing on the matter to January 2019. The top court on October 29, was to hear a batch of pleas challenging the Allahabad High Court's 2010 verdict by which the disputed land in Ayodhya was divided into three parts. Ayodhya Case: Supreme Court Adjourns Hearing Till Jan 2019; Opposition Slams BJP, RSS Demands Ordinance on Ram Mandir.

Meanwhile, the top court on September 27, had declined to refer to a five-judge constitution bench the issue of reconsideration of the observations in its 1994 judgment that a mosque was not integral to Islam which had arisen during the hearing of the Ayodhya land dispute. After the Court adjourned the matter till January 2019, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Keshav Prasad Maurya said, "I don't want to comment since it's the decision of Supreme Court. However, the adjournment of hearing doesn't send a good message".

For the last eight years, the Ayodhya case is pending before the Supreme Court. The Allahabad High Court in 2010 had ruled a verdict that divided the disputed Ayodhya land equally among three parties, the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 24, 2018 07:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).