The Supreme Court on Monday refused to extend the security of former special judge S K Yadav who had pronounced the verdict in the Babri Masjid demolition case and acquitted all 32 accused, including Bharatiya Janata Party veterans L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti.
President Droupadi Murmu administered him the oath at a brief ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
'Does a secular nation not believe in its ancestry? The Constitution has a photo of Ram also.'
'Lord Rama is still in the same shape as he was before the disputed structure fell...'
'He told senior journalists a few days after the Babri Masjid demolition, 'Jo hua theek hua. Maine isliye hone diya ki BJP ki rajniti hamesha ke liye khatam ho jaye.'
The hearing of the civil suit filed in a Mathura court seeking ownership of the entire 13.37 acres of Krishna Janmabhoomi land has been adjourned till December 10, after the plaintiff in the case, Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust, failed to appear before the court on Wednesday.
Here are the key figures among the 32 accused in the Babri mosque demolition case who were on Wednesday acquitted by a special CBI court in Lucknow of all charges.
There are indications that the Modi dispensation was disinclined to bring the VHP into the temple-mosque frame.
Here is Rediff.com's selection of some stories from Thursday that you may not have read in the morning newspaper.
'We will not accept this lollypop. They must make clear that where they want to give us the land'
'Commentators have said that dealing with allies as equals will make Modi more sensitive.' 'Remember that the people Modi is dealing with are equally autocratic in their own lairs.' 'Further, Modi always has handy the threat of dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh polls.' 'Most of his own party, and certainly his allies and opponents having blown their budgets of efforts and resources in the just concluded elections, have no stomach for this.' 'They are all greatly looking forward to the loaves and fishes of office on offer.' 'That gives Modi an unbeatable advantage in any push-comes-to-shove situation,' explains Shreekant Sambrani.
Contentious issues such as the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Art 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir and enactment of Uniform Civil Code have been included in the Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto with the party making promises on them.
Advani denied his involvement in the alleged conspiracy along with 'kar sevaks' to demolish the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. He pleaded he was completely innocent and was unnecessarily dragged in the case owing to political reasons.
While Ayodhya resembled a city under seige earlier during the day, the scene was no different elsewhere in the state with police and central forces keeping an eye over the security situation and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally monitoring it from a hi-tech control room in the state capital.
VHP national working president Alok Kumar also rejected questions about the muhurta of the event, saying the 'best advice' has been taken including from the Head of the Jyotish Department of the Banaras Hindu University on timing of the ceremony.
The Babri mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by karsevaks on December 6, 1992.
'If the Ram Mandir is made, it is because of the collective strength of our country.'
The ministry of information and broadcasting on Saturday issued an advisory to all television channels and cable TV operators in the wake of the Supreme Court's Ayodhya verdict to adhere to programme code and ensure that debates, discussions and visuals do not incite any "divisive" or "anti-national" feelings.
A Hindu body has moved the Supreme Court challenging a provision in the 1991 law that provides for maintaining the "religious character" of holy structures as it existed on August 15, 1947, in a bid to open the litigation route to reclaim disputed religious sites other than the Ram Janambhoomi in Ayodhya. The petition, which has challenged Section 4 of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, assumes significance in the case of Kashi and Mathura, where two disputed mosques stand.
The Allahabad high court will hear Wednesday a plea against the acquittal of all 32 accused, including Bharatiya Janata Party veterans L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, in the Babri mosque demolition case.
'How can the monument where the prime minister unfurls the flag on Independence Day, in a ceremony broadcast and telecast nationally, be maintained by a private entity?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
Dividing people in the name of religion, engineering riots and committing atrocities on Dalits is not Hindutva but to unite one human being with another is, he said in a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party while replying to a question at a summit organised by news channel Times Now.
The accused include former deputy prime minister Advani, former Union ministers Joshi and Uma Bharti, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, besides Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambara.
Four people have been booked for making objectionable and inflammatory posts on social media sites, officials said on Friday.
The top court, which had earlier fixed August 31 as the deadline for completion of proceedings including pronouncement of the verdict, took note of the report filed by special judge S K Yadav in the high-profile case.
Muslim groups observed 'day of sorrow' while Hindu outfits celebrated 'shaurya divas' on the 23rd anniversary of Babri mosque demolition on Sunday, which passed off peacefully amid tight security in Ayodhya, as well as in other parts of the country.
'Whenever the Government of India throws the debris, they will not take such care of the mosque's debris and Muslims may object to such a move at that time.'
The prime minister's tough talk assumed significance in view of protests against the CAA in various parts of the country.
Modi said the way each section of the society welcomed the verdict reflects India's ancient traditions of amity and harmony.
The transformation of the Modi-Shah baiting Hardik Patel into saffron poster boy.
Biju Janata Dal members had staged a walk-out while NDA ally Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting.
It will be heard by a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
'We are also capable of giving a befitting response to any attempt of aggression,' Kovind said.
From the kind of food to the art which will be displayed at the museum, historian Pushpesh Pant shares his vision.
Mahant Ramchandra Das Paramhans is the president of the Ramjanambhoomi Nyas, which is spearheading the movement for construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
'It is a very irresponsible statement.' 'He is saying all the wrong things.'
Issues including the Rafale deal, construction of Ram Temple and Cauvery river water caused disruptions in the House.
'The Opposition parties should seriously give thought to endorsing Kovind's candidacy and close this chapter of divisive politics,' advises M K Bhadrakumar.
The hot money may be on the Aam Aadmi Party winning the Delhi assembly elections, but the Bharatiya Janata Party is not giving up the battle without a fight.
'If Mayawati had performed better, then the BJP would have had a much tougher time to win UP.' 'The present gap in number of seats between the BJP and SP would have got reduced.'
