Indian court defers Ayodhya verdict by a week

New Delhi: India’s Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a lower court in northern India to delay a verdict on whether Hindus or Muslims own land around a demolished mosque in northern India, television channels reported.

The postponment of Friday’s verdict came after Ramesh Chandra Tripathi, a retired bureaucrat, appealed to the Supreme Court for a stay on the judgment, saying the matter could be settled out of court.

The case over the 16th century Babri mosque in Uttar Pradesh state is one of the biggest security challenges in India this year, along with a Maoist insurgency and a Kashmiri separatist rebellion, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.

"The Supreme Court has deferred the Ayodhya verdict. The order states that the high court in Allahabad cannot pass the judgement tomorrow," said an official in the registrar office the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court gave the parties until September 28 to reconcile their positions, according to a lawyer. The court sought the help of the attorney general in promoting reconciliation.

The Allahabad High Court was scheduled to rule on Friday whether Hindus or Muslims own land around the demolished Babri mosque, a judgment haunted by memories of 1992 riots, when some 2000 were killed.

Earlier, India banned bulk mobile text messaging for three days to prevent the spreading of rumours and religious extremism as authorities prepared for the potentially explosive court verdict. Hindu mobs demolished the mosque in the town of Ayodhya in 1992, claiming it was built on the birthplace of their god-king Rama. The demolition triggered massive religious riots.