New Delhi: The special CBI judge conducting day-to-day hearings in the Babri masjid demolition and riots cases has approached the Supreme Court for police protection.
Judge S.K. Yadav of the Lucknow CBI court made the request in a letter to the apex court Friday.
Taking up his request, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman and Surya Kant directed the Uttar Pradesh government to examine it and furnish their response in two weeks.
The court said the judge’s demand was “reasonable”, given the enormity of the case at hand.
Since May 2017, on the orders of the Supreme Court, the court of CBI judge Yadav has been conducting daily hearings into two cases stemming from the demolition of the 16th-century Babri Masjid by a Hindu mob in December 1992.
One is the Rae Bareli case, which had been stuck in a magistrate court until 2017. It is based on claims that BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders, including L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, delivered speeches to promote enmity when the mosque was brought down.
The other one is the Lucknow case, which has as accused “lakhs of unknown kar sevaks” and deals with the actual act of demolition and violence.
When the Supreme Court ordered the clubbing of the two cases, it also revived conspiracy charges against Advani and Joshi, among others. Now, the accused are being tried under a composite charge sheet filed by the CBI on 5 October 1993. The others facing conspiracy charges include former MP Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Ritambhara.
Looking for quick resolution of a case that has dragged on for three decades, the court prevented the transfer of the judge and also adjournments. However, the court kept a window open for the judge to approach it if he had any grievance.
Extension sought
The case was supposed to be concluded in two years, but, on 15 July this year, the judge wrote to the apex court to seek a six-month extension.
The Supreme Court has also asked the UP government to find a way out here because judge Yadav is set to retire on 30 September.
Meanwhile, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is conducting day-to-day hearings in the title suit that lies at the heart of the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute.
The hearings began earlier this month after a court-ordered mediation panel failed to find an amicable solution among the different parties. The hearings are aimed at establishing the ownership of the disputed site where the Babri masjid stood until 1992, but Hindus claim as the birth site of the deity Ram.
Also read: How a Hindu party wanted Ram Mandir but didn’t raise it in India’s first election under Nehru
Massacre of Muslims at Hashimpura where 42 Muslims were murdered by the provincial Armed constabulary , the case went on for over thirty years no one was convicted.
Muzaffarnagar riots all the accused let off.
Pehlu Khan Case all the accused let off.
Advani who spread venom by his rath Yatra, hatred against Muslims and demolition of Bahri masjid let off.
Countless other examples.
No justice for Muslims.
No wonder Kashmiri now shout, what is the solution
The gun, the gun
Pray for a truly secular india, we are collectively descending into a communal hell of hatred.