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5 NUALS L.J. 1 (2011)
Of Limited Suits and Limitless Legalities: Interpreting Legal Procedure in the Ayodhya Judgment

handle is hein.journals/nualsj5 and id is 9 raw text is: OF LIMITED SUITS AND LIMITLESS LEGALITIES: INTERPRETING LEGAL PROCEDURE IN TIE AYODHYA JUDGMENT -Kalyani Ramnath ABSTRACT Commentary on the September 30judgment of the Allahabad High Court on the Ram Janmabhoomi - Babri Masjid dispute has focused on issues of faith' and 'belief' and how the court has 'affixed' legality to these categories. But as legal practitioners and academics will attest, this is far from being the first time that law courts have embarked on this route. Some of the more remarkable features of this judgment, now on appeal before the Supreme Court, rest in its interpretations of laws governing civil procedure. Issues that were discussed ranged from the limitation of suits to the perpetual minority of Hindu idols. This Article considers the possibility that civil procedure in this argument is not apolitical. In this case, interpretations of substantive law came under attack for the politics it supports, but lesser attention was paid to the legal procedures that facilitated it. What is the court trying to remedy here, through its meticulous piecing together of evidence and its precarious journey through legal procedure? Is it merely a question of title to property, or is it a question of identities and whose 'tranquility' is more important? It is therefore equally important to explore what a court accepts evidence for, and in whose name procedure is invoked This Article is more than a commentary on a judgment that captured public imagination. It is an invitation to look carefully at some of the most fundamental issues that underlie legal-judicial practice in India today. 1. AN INCOMPLETE NARRATIVE The year was 1949. Gopal Singh Visharad, a member of the Hindu Mahasabha, was prohibited from worshipping at what was commonly known as the Ram Chabutra in Ayodhya.' There were pad B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) (NLSIU), LL.M.(Yale). The author would like to thank Akila Ramalingam, Aparna Chandra, Bipin Aspatwar, Manish G, Menaka Guruswamy and Raguvaran Gopalan for invaluable suggestions. The views expressed here are her own. 'The background to this restriction on worship is given succinctly in Supriya Varma and Jaya Menon. They record how in December 1949, the Akhil Bharatiya Ramayaa

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