One would not normally associate a love story with the Babri Masjid demolition, but National Award-winning novelist Aabid Surti's latest offering does just that.
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 will be heard by a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
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
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.
The 61-year-old saffron clad BJP leader is the 19th accused to depose before the court in the over 27-year-old case. 13 other alleged accused, including former deputy prime minister LK Advani and senior BJP leaders MM Joshi and Kalyan Singh are yet to be examined at this stage.
The sting operation carried out 'Cobrapost' giving details of alleged conspiracy by right-wing organisations to bring down Babri Masjid in 1992 has no evidentiary value for the Central Bureau of Investigation as it has already completed the investigation.
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.
It has sought permission to begin prosecution proceedings against Deputy Prime Minister Advani, Union minister M M Joshi and 19 others.
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
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.
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.
"It is surprising that even after going through with the completion of recording of evidence of witnesses and arguments, the commission has failed to submit its findings. So much so that Mumbai High Court had to comment adversely regarding the functioning and delay in the completion of inquiry by the commission. "Consequently, there is genuine feeling among the vast sections of the society, especially among Muslims," the resolution noted.
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.
Opposition parties led by the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday created ruckus in the Lok Sabha by resorting to loud sloganeering to disrupt Union Home Minister P Chidambaram while making a statement over the Liberhan Commission's report related to the Babri mosque demolition during the ongoing discussion.
"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.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Saturday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party over its attempt to reach out to the minorities, questioning whether it will take action against Narendra Modi for the Gujarat riots or L K Advani will accept his "crime" in the Babari Mosque demolition.
Five members of the Muslim side also participated in the survey. Its advocate Tauheed Khan said advocates of the Intezamia Masjid Committee Akhlaq and Mumtaz accompanied the survey team.
Earlier on Wednesday, the district court ruled that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in a cellar of the Gyanvapi Masjid, a significant development in the legal battle over the mosque adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
A group photo taken at the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Jaipur ahead of Tuesday's legislature party meeting showed Bhajan Lal Sharma in the very last row.
The SC asked special judge to control the proceedings in accordance with law so that inordinate delay that is beyond the time-frame is no longer breached.
"Interim orders wherever granted shall continue. Re-list in first half of April, 2024," the bench said in its order and directed the parties to complete the pleadings by then.
With the recent arrest of two Bharatiya Janata Party activists who had taken part in the Ayodhya agitation back in 1992 snowballing into a controversy, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said a criminal is always a criminal unless acquitted by a court of law.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) international joint general secretary Surendra Jain on Tuesday warned All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi for his comment on the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
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 court also ordered framing of charges against the accused in light of the Supreme Court order dated April 19, 2017.
The Allahabad high court on Thursday directed recording of evidence on a day-to-day basis by the Rae Bareli trial court in the Babri Masjid demolition case, rejecting a plea by a Vishwa Hindu Party leader.
The defence counsel pleaded that CBI was only an investigating agency and had no right to prosecute.
'I am not a person who would do such things from behind the scenes.' 'I don't believe in taking somebody else's support for speaking out my mind.'
The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned till January 10 the hearing on the bail plea of former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid in a case lodged under anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) over his alleged involvement in the conspiracy behind the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.
Justice V Gopala Gowda recused himself from the hearing without citing any reason and said, "let the matter be placed before the Chief Justice" for its allocation to some other bench.
The ground floor of the three-storey Ram temple in Ayodhya is in its final stages and the work on ancillary structures is going on in full swing for their completion by October this year, the temple authorities said on Monday.
Had it not been for Pankaj Tripathi, who must have worked hard to get those Vajpayee intonations and mannerisms so perfectly well, Ravi Jadhav's flattering portrait of Vajpayee would have been more vacuous than what we get to see, observes Prasanna Zore.
The Central Bureau of Investigation's submission in the Babri Masjid demolition case that senior BJP leader L K Advani and others had committed a 'national crime' drew a sharp reaction from the Supreme Court which asked the agency not to use such a language till the case is decided by the courts.
With the 30th anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and 65th death anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar falling on December 6, the Mumbai police as a precautionary measure has announced prohibitory orders in Mumbai as part of its standard procedure from December 2 till January 2, 2023.
Ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023, the PCB is exploring the possibility of sending a psychologist with the squad to India to cope with the pressures of the high-profile tournament.
The construction of the three-storeyed Ram temple in Ayodhya will be completed by December this year, temple construction committee chairperson Nripendra Misra said on Thursday. The sprawling temple complex will also have other structures.
