Supreme Court on Monday has declined the request made by former judge S K Yadav seeking an extension of security who had pronounced the Babri Masjid Demolition verdict and acquitted all 32 accused including L.K. Advani, M.M. Joshi and Uma Bharti.
The apex court bench presided by Justice R F Nariman has discontinued the security cover provided to ex-judge S K Yadav. Justice R F Nariman, along with Justice Navin Sinha and Justice Krishna Murari, has also extended Yadav’s tenure to facilitate him to complete the hearing in the matter and give a final verdict.
“Having perused the letter, we don’t consider it appropriate to provide security,” said the bench.
S K Yadav, in its 2,300-page verdict, noted that CBI could not produce any solid evidence against the accused, and therefore, he acquitted all the 32 accused.
However, Justice S K Yadav had directed all the accused to deposit a surety and personal bond worth Rs 50,000 each as per the procedural requirement under Section 437 (A) of CrPC. While hearing the matter, the judge didn’t accept newspaper reports and video cassettes as evidence.
On September 30, Justice S K Yadav, in the presence of 26 of the 32 accused along with their lawyers, had observed that the court didn’t accept the pieces of newspaper as original copies are not produced and proved. The photos were also denied as evidence as their negatives were also not produced before the court.
“Even VHP leader late Ashok Singhal was trying to stop the kar sevaks from demolishing the disputed structure because the idol of Lord Ram was also inside the structure,” observed the court in its verdict.
On December 6, 1992, the 16th century Babar mosque was demolished “kar sevaks” who believed that the mosque is built on the land where Lord Rama was born. The incident led to the huge destruction and killing of many during the riots.
Last year, a five-judge bench handed over the disputed 2.77-acre land to the trust for building a temple and allocated five-acre land for the construction of mosque at another site separately.
