The Supreme Court on Monday declined early hearing of petitions in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul said it had already listed the appeals before the appropriate bench in January.

""We have already passed the order. The appeals are coming up in January. Permission declined,"" the bench said while rejecting the request of early hearing of lawyer Barun Kumar Sinha, appearing for the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha. The top court had earlier fixed the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for the first week of January before an ""appropriate bench"", which will decide the schedule of hearing.