'Can sit for extra 1 hour daily': SC extends Ayodhya hearing from Monday

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear the Ram Janmabhoomi Babri Masjid dispute case for an extra hour from next Monday to conclude the hearing before the October 18 deadline fixed by it.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, which was hearing the decades-old politically sensitive land dispute on 28th day, told the counsel for both the Hindu and Muslim parties that it has decided to rise at 5 pm instead of 4 pm, which is the scheduled time to wrap up the day's proceedings in the apex court.

"We can sit for extra one hour from Monday (September 23)," the bench which also comprise Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer said.

The apex court has set October 18 as deadline for completion of all arguments in the protracted land title dispute, a move that has raised the possibility of a verdict in the politically sensitive case in the middle of November.