NEW DELHI, India 

India’s Supreme Court on Friday ordered a state government to extend the tenure for six months of the special judge hearing a case pertaining to 1992 Babri Mosque demolition, local media reported.

According to Press Trust of India, a local news agency, the apex court directed the special judge of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to examine all evidence, as well as prosecution and defense witnesses within six months and deliver the verdict within nine months.

SK Yadav, the special judge of CBI who is set to retire on Sept. 30, had sought more time from the apex court to complete the trial in the case.

Earlier, the verdict was to be delivered on April 2019.

Babri Mosque

In 1885, a Hindu religious body asked a court for permission to construct a temple to honor the Hindu deity Ram inside the premises of the Babri Mosque, said to have been built by Mughal Emperor Babur in 1526. Permission was denied.

In 1949, a group of Hindus entered the mosque premises and installed an idol of Ram there. Declaring the area disputed land, the government placed the premises under lockdown, with the idol remaining inside with one official and one Hindu appointed as stewards of grounds.

In 1986, the local Faizabad administration opened the premises to Hindus, allowing them to carry out their rituals.

In December 1992, thousands of activists from extremist Hindu groups and political parties along with BJP leaders entered the mosque and demolished it, erecting a Hindu temple in its place.

The dispute has been languishing in India’s legal system for years with no final outcome in sight.