The government heaved a sigh of relief as the Supreme Court came to its aid by deferring the much anticipated Ayodhya verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title suit and asked all interested parties to appear on Tuesday.
There is intense speculation all over the country on whether the high court will actually be able to deliver the judgement since one of the judges is retiring on October 1, and the judgement would have to be given by September 30. In the event that the Supreme Court does not lift the stay, it would mean that the bench hearing the case would be dissolved and a fresh bench would be constituted leading to yet another delay.
The union government had panicked with reports coming in that trouble was in the offing whichever way the judgement went. With the Commonwealth Games around the corner and US President Obama set to visit India, the Centre was anxious that there should be no communal flare-ups in the country to add to its troubles with the CWG mess, violence in Kashmir and floods in various parts of the country.
Highly placed sources said that the government had been given a life line when the Suprme Court took the line that one more effort should be made to bring all the parties together and arrive at a consensus to resolve the issue . It was continuing to advise the television channels to show restraint and not to broadcast any inflammatory material. The government has now extended the ban on bulk smses to September 29 for the same purpose.
What is interesting is that the Congress has welcomed the Supreme Court's intervention
d="div_arti_inline_advt">