Section 144 Imposed in Ayodhya as SC Deadline Nears

The prohibitory orders under Section 144 will continue till 10 December, officials said.

The outcome report for the Ayodhya Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case will be submitted on 1 August.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Prohibitory orders under section 144 have been clamped in Ayodhya as the Supreme Court's revised deadline for wrapping up the proceedings in the sensitive Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case approaches.

The prohibitory orders will continue till 10 December, officials said.

Posting the order on his official Twitter account, District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha said,"The order has been issued considering safety and security of Ayodhya and those visiting here as Govt's paramount concerns."

“I must add that already there is another order in force since 31.08.2019 covering aspects of unlawful assemblies and undesirable activities. The order dated 12.10.2019 has been issued to cover a couple of points which were not there in the earlier order.” 

Anuj Kumar Jha, District Magistrate

The administration has also demanded a large number of security forces to maintain law and order and communal harmony.

Jha told news agency PTI that the order also restricts drones, unmanned aerial vehicle for filming and shooting inside Ayodhya. The sale and purchase of crackers will not be allowed on the occasion of Diwali without permission of the magistrate.

Section 144 prohibits assembly of four or more people and empowers the police to book people for rioting.  

The protracted hearing in the politically sensitive Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute at Ayodhya entered into the crucial final leg on Monday when the Supreme Court resumed proceedings on the 38th day after the week-long Dussehra break.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, which started the day-to-day proceedings on 6 August after mediation proceedings failed to find an amicable solution to the vexatious dispute, has revised the deadline for wrapping up the proceedings and has fixed it on 17 October.

Fourteen appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgment, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among the three parties –the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.