Ram Mandir case: In a much-awaited directive, the Supreme Court of India on Friday referred the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for a court-appointed and monitored mediation in order to seek a permanent solution to the issue. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi passed the order of mediation in the Ayodhya title suit. As per reports, the apex court has asked to start the mediation within a week at Faizabad and Uttar Pradesh government will have to make arrangements for the same. The mediation panel has to give its report within four weeks. The top court has appointed a three-member mediation panel headed by Justice FM Khalifulah, the retired Supreme Court judge. The mediation will be at liberty to induct more mediators or seek legal assistance. Art of Living head Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu are the other mediators on the panel.


Let us have a look at the profiles of the three mediators appointed by Supreme Court to settle the decades-old dispute:

Justice FM Khalifulah

Born on July 23, 1951, Kalifulla started his career as practising labour law. He was appointed as a judge of the Madras High Court in 2000. In February 2011, he became a member of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and was appointed to serve as the acting Chief Justice two months later. In September 2011, he was named as the Chief Justice of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir. On 2 April 2012, he was named to the Supreme Court of India. Kalifulla retired from the Supreme Court of India on 22 July 2016.

Kalifulla who hails from Karaikudi, Sivagangai district in Tamil Nadu was also the Standing Counsel for Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. A third-generation lawyer and second generation judge, Kalifulla had disposed of around 65,000 cases during his 11-year stint in the court.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Renowned spiritual leader and founded the Art of Living Foundation, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is the second member of the mediation panel appointed by Supreme Court. Shankar was born in 1956 in Papanasam in Tamil Nadu. Through a myriad of programs and teachings, his foundation Art of Living and the International Association for Human Values has a presence across 155 countries across the globe and the spiritual leader has a following of over 370 million people. Shankar was named by Forbes Magazine as the fifth most powerful leader in India.

Shankar had played a key role in bringing about the Anti-Corruption movement and inter-faith harmony in India. He has given free education to over 65,000 children in around 600 schools in rural and tribal areas of India.

Sriram Panchu

A Senior Advocate with over 40 years of law practice, Sriram Panchu is an active Mediator. He is also the Founder of Concord Mediation, a firm which offers services in mediation and med-arb. He is the President of the national association Mediators India and a Director on the Board of the International Mediation Institute (IMI). Panchi is also known for setting up India’s first court-annexed mediation centre in 2005 and has been instrumental in making meditation a part of India's legal system by working with judges and lawyers.

Panchu has mediated a large number of complex and high-value disputes across the range of commercial, corporate and contractual disputes in different parts of India. He was appointed by India's Supreme Court to mediate a 500 square kilometre dispute between the states of Assam and Nagaland, and another public dispute involving the Parsi community in Bombay.