“It will be a miracle to write verdict in four weeks,” a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi which is hearing Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute since August 6 said on Thursday.

Keeping in view CJI Gogoi’s scheduled retirement on November 17, the Bench had set October 18 deadline last week for completion of arguments by all sides.“If arguments can’t get over by October 18, there won’t be extra days,” the Bench said at the outset on Thursday reiterating the October 18 deadline for completion of arguments.

The Bench sought to underline the fact that it will have only four weeks to write the verdict and it will be a miracle to deliver the judgment in four weeks.As the hearing resumed, Muslim parties changed their stand on the authorship of Archaeological Survey of India’s 2003 report and apologised to the Bench for wasting its time.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan told the Bench that they did not want to question the authorship of the ASI report’s summary.On Wednesday, senior counsel Meenakshi Arora, representing one of the Muslim parties, had questioned the ASI report on the ground that every chapter was attributed to an author but the summary wasn’t.

However, Dhavan told the Bench on Thursday that “It’s not expected that every page is signed. The authorship of the report and the summary need not be questioned. If we had wasted my Lords’ time, then we apologise for that. The report in question has an author and we are not questioning the authorship.”

The top court is hearing 14 cross-appeals against the Allahabad High Court’s September 30, 2010, judgment equally dividing the disputed land between Ram Lalla, Nirmohi Akhara and Muslims.

After the Muslim parties finish their arguments, lawyers for Ram Lalla and Nirmohi Akhara will get a chance to rebut the Muslim side and the parties will be asked to submit their final written submissions before the Bench reserves its verdict.

The Bench, which also includes Justice SA Bobde, Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S Abdul Nazeer, had on September 18 said while the hearing was on, mediation attempts to find an amicable solution to the vexed problem could go on but the process of meditation and the terms of settlement would be confidential.