Senior Advocate and retired Justice S. Muralidhar sharply criticised the judiciary’s handling of sensitive religious cases, highlighting the prolonged inaction on the suo motu contempt petition, the “gravest ever contempt” against former BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh for the demolition of the Babri Masjid, which he called “institutional amnesia.”
He also noted that the consequences of the Babri Masjid demolition continue to unfold, flagging that “despite the Places of Worship Act being mentioned, we have had suits emerging everywhere, 17 suits all over the country.”
“It was not taken up for 22 years. And then when it was listed before Justice (Sanjay) Kaul it was said why flog a dead horse. This is institutional amnesia, which in my view is unforgivable, of an act which the Supreme Court found was an egregious crime,” he remarked.
Kalyan Singh, as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh at the time of the Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, 1992, was implicated in contempt proceedings due to his government’s failure to prevent the destruction of the mosque, despite assurances given to the Supreme Court.
Prior to the demolition, the Uttar Pradesh government provided a written undertaking to the Supreme Court that it would ensure the security of the Babri Masjid and prevent any illegal activities, including the proposed kar seva (religious construction work).
In 2022, the Supreme Court brought to a close nearly three decades of contempt proceedings related to the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid, involving officials from the Uttar Pradesh administration and certain Sangh Parivar leaders, declaring that nothing survives in the matter.
With the petitioner, Aslam Bhure, and several respondents, including former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, having passed away, the three-judge bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul questioned the purpose of continuing, asking why “flog a dead horse.”
At the same time, the Court acknowledged its own lapse, calling it “unfortunate.”
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
