Here are the key takeaways from SC’s Friday order:
The mediation process will be held in Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad district.
Justice FMI Kalfullah, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and senior advocate Sriram Panchu are the court-appointed mediators.
The proceedings should start in a month and the interim report should be submitted within four weeks from its commencement.
The entire process of mediation must be completed in eight weeks.
"Court-monitored mediation proceedings will be confidential," said CJI Ranjan Gogoi, adding that the media is barred from covering it.
The SC also directed on-camera proceedings for mediation in the case.
The SC said the panel of mediators may co-opt more members and in case of any difficulty they can inform the apex court registry.
“Mediators can seek further legal assistance as and when required,” the order added.
The apex court, during the hearing, observed that the issue is not about 2.77 acres land, but about religious sentiments.
The order holds significance as 14 appeals have been filed in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad HC 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.