Saturday marks the 11th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
The proceedings in the case at the Central Bureau of Investigation court in Lucknow ended on Tuesday with the advocates for some of 32 accused presenting their oral arguments.
The Act prohibits conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.
As the Ayodhya title suit verdict date nears, the News Broadcasters Association has set guidelines for electronic media asking them not to speculate about the judgement and not to show the footage of 1992 Babri Masjid demolition.
From the kind of food to the art which will be displayed at the museum, historian Pushpesh Pant shares his vision.
Patil revealed that CM Shinde called him on Tuesday morning after his remarks caused a row and asked him to clarify.
The Mathura Shahi Masjid Eidgah Committee has approached the Supreme Court, requesting the court to prevent the central government from filing a response to a petition challenging the Places of Worship Act's constitutional validity. The committee accuses the BJP-led government of intentionally delaying its response. The court had previously issued a notice to the government in March 2021, but the government has yet to submit its reply despite numerous opportunities. The committee argues that the government's delay is intended to obstruct those opposing the challenge to the Places of Worship Act from filing their own responses. The petition also states that the pleas challenging the law's validity are scheduled for hearing on February 17, and closing the government's right to respond would serve justice. The Supreme Court previously issued a ruling in December 2022 that stopped courts from entertaining new lawsuits or issuing interim or final orders regarding the reclaiming of religious places, particularly mosques and dargahs. The ruling halted proceedings in 18 lawsuits filed by Hindu groups seeking surveys to confirm the original religious character of 10 mosques, including the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura, and the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. This decision was made in response to six petitions, including one filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, challenging various provisions of the Places of Worship Act. The 1991 law prohibits the conversion of places of worship and guarantees the preservation of their existing religious character as it stood on August 15, 1947. Notably, the dispute regarding the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was excluded from this law. There are also several cross-petitions advocating for a strict enforcement of the 1991 law to uphold communal harmony and maintain the current status of mosques that Hindu groups seek to reclaim, claiming they were temples before being destroyed by invaders.
The Supreme Court has adjourned by six weeks hearing of the batch of petitions challenging the separation of trials of senior BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders for their alleged involvement in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
Fifteen years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, a Central Bureau of Investigations court in Rae Bareli on Wednesday commenced trial of the case in which senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani and seven Sangh Parivar leaders are accused.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of raking up the Ayodhya issue in a bid to gain political mileage, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday claimed that it had never given a clean chit to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on the Babri Masjid demolition issue and blamed the Congress for being 'equally responsible' for it."The SP never gave a clean chit to Kalyan on the Babri Mosque demolition. But the fact is that the Congress is equally responsible," said Amar.
A senior IPS officer, who deposed that BJP leader L K Advani had made a provocative speech in Ayodhya moments before the Babri masjid was demolished by Sangh Parivar activists in 1992, was on Friday cross-examined by the defence in a Rae Bareli special court.
After talking about "moral" responsibility on Wednesday, former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh on Thursday said he owned 'total' responsibility for the demolition of the Babri Masjid when he was the chief minister in 1992 in remarks seen as helping his new ally Samajwadi Party from attacks from Muslims on the issue.
They staged an hour-long 'dharna' at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi inside the Parliament House complex denouncing the BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits for creating communal tension.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Kalyan Singh's counsel B B Saksena cited a statement by the then Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh while making this allegation before Justice Liberhan.
While directing the accused to present themselves in person, the judge had said no application for adjournment or exemption from personal appearance shall be entertained.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday dubbed the Liberhan Commission report, probing the Babri Masjid demolition, as devoid of any credibility and said the 'leakage' of the report was as dubious as its content.
While charges against top Bharatiya Janata Party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders including Lal Krishna Advani, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar were already dropped by the high court, the most prominent among those who were on the firing line was former Faizabad district magistrate R N Srivastava and mafia don turned BJP member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Saran Singh
Meanwhile, an opposition sponsored motion for discussion on the dropping of conspiracy charges by the Central Bureau of Investigation was rejected in the Rajya Sabha after an hour-long argument on its admissibility.
It has sought permission to begin prosecution proceedings against Deputy Prime Minister Advani, Union minister M M Joshi and 19 others.
Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao had no knowledge of the plan to demolish Babri Masjid and he believed in the assurance given by top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders concerning the march to Ayodhya in 1992 by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and security at the disputed site, Rao's former media adviser PVRK Prasad said on Sunday.
Senior advocate Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, told the bench that they have complied with the top court's direction and extended the tenure of the special judge till he delivers the judgment in the Ayodhya demolition case.
Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj tore apart the Justice Liberhan Commission report, probing the Babri Masjid demolition, on Tuesday and asked the government to reject it.
The CBI has moved the Supreme Court challenging an Allahabad High Court order that dropped charges of criminal conspiracy against top BJP leaders including L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
'We all know that when the Babri Masjid was demolished, P V Narasimha Rao was prime minister.' 'He did not do anything to stop the demolition.'
"I don't call it a debate. I call it an introspection," said Gurudas Dasgupta, Member of Parliament of the Communist party of India from West Bengal while kick starting the rarest of the rare debate in Lok Sabha on Monday -- on perhaps the most politically sensitive issue of independent India.
The opposition is agitated over the CBI dropping the conspiracy charge against Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and some other BJP leaders in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
The special court hearing the demolition case fixed May 31 for the next hearing.
Passing judgment in the case, metropolitan magistrate S S Sharma, who is presiding over the riot cases of 1992, said all the 13 people against whom trial proceedings were launched, were acquitted of all charges as the police had failed to prove the charges against them
Mulayam is clearly all set to play up the Muslim card. So what if that involves handing over an opportunity to exploit Hindutva to sworn rival BJP, says Sharat Pradhan
CBI counsel S S Gandhi, however, said the CBI had, 'oral evidence' against all the eight accused persons, including Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti.
Das served as the head priest since he was 20 years old, including during the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned today, following the Opposition's clamour over a report claiming that the Prime Minister's Office PMO had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to explain why no action was taken against L K Advani
The CBI has challenged the 2001 order of a Special CBI court dropping proceedings against the duo in the Babri Masjid demolition case on technical grounds.
The Congress has alleged that a CD recently presented to the Liberhan Commission 'established beyond doubt' that the former prime minister had 'full knowledge' of the Dec 6, 1992 incident.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Central Bureau of Investigation for the delay in filing appeal against the Allahabad high court order that conspiracy charge will not apply to BJP leader L K Advani and others in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
Nazir Ahmed Wani, the main accused in the 1993 Deoband bomb blasts, has been arrested in Srinagar after evading capture for 31 years. Wani, wanted for his involvement in the bomb attacks, was arrested by a joint operation of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and local police. The blasts occurred during communal violence in Deoband following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
