NEW DELHI � The Indian Supreme Court rejected Tuesday a plea to delay judgment on whether Hindus or Muslims should control a disputed holy site, clearing the way for a verdict in the explosive case in the coming days.
The fight over the compound in the central Indian town of Ayodhya has shaken the core of modern India and led to repeated outbreaks of communal violence that killed thousands of people.
A lower court had been scheduled to issue its ruling in the 60-year-old case last Friday and decide whether the site should be given to the Hindu community to build a temple to the god Rama or returned to the Muslim community to rebuild the 16th-century Babri Mosque.
But the Supreme Court deferred that ruling so it could hear arguments Tuesday on whether a decision on the dispute, which dates back more than 150 years, should be delayed further to allow the two communities a chance to settle it amicably.
On Tuesday afternoon the court dismissed the motion without giving any reasons for its decision, said Mukul Rohatgi, a lawyer who argued for the delay.
The Allahabad High Court is expected to deliver a verdict by the end of the week when one of the judges on the panel is set to retire, which could force the court to put together a new panel and hear the case from the beginning.
The government fears that any verdict could set off a repeat of the communal violence that killed 2,000 people in nationwide rioting in 1992 after a mob of Hindu extremists descended on Ayodhya and tore down the Babri Mosque.
Hindus protested that the mosque, built in 1528 by the Mughal emperor Babur, had been erected at the birthplace of Rama.
The government had appealed for calm ahead of the verdict, sent thousands of extra police to Ayodhya and barred anyone from sending mass text messages to prevent agitators from mobilizing violent protests.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, an attorney who opposed the delay, said the government's concerns should not affect the court process.
"The question of consequences is irrelevant," he said.
Police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled the streets of Ayodhya on Tuesday and road barriers were erected across roads leading to the town.
Anil Kumar, superintendent of police, said vehicles entering the town were checked and police were keeping track of the movement of groups of people.
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