The Hindu : U.P. Govt. removes lawyer for insertions in affidavit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 18, 2003

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U.P. Govt. removes lawyer for insertions in affidavit

By J.P. Shukla

LUCKNOW Nov. 17. The Uttar Pradesh Government today removed its advocate-on-record in the Supreme Court, R.C. Verma, for certain insertions in the State Government affidavit that had created "misgivings" about the Government's stand on the conspiracy angle in the Babri Masjid demolition case. A supplementary affidavit to remove the misgivings is to be filed soon.

The affidavit had been filed on a notice by the apex court following a petition filed by Wajahat Ansari who had sought the quashing of the supplementary chargesheet filed in a Rae Bareli court by the Central Bureau of Investigation, dropping the conspiracy charge against some leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Chief Secretary, A.P. Singh, told mediapersons here that while the Government's stand on the issue was consistent, a minor insertion of the word "wrong" had created misunderstandings. Apparently, the Government counsel had exceeded his brief to make the "insertions" that had made a value judgment. Any Government official found guilty in this regard would be dealt with seriously, he said.

The affidavit had stated: "The contentions of the writ petition are admitted only to the extent that the Babri Masjid was destroyed on December 6, 1992. The contention of the petitioner that the aforesaid act was done under criminal conspiracy by any specific community or political party is wrong and denied."

Muslim leaders have expressed surprise at the Uttar Pradesh Government affidavit. The Government's stand was obviously contrary to the public utterances of the Chief Minister in the past, they said.

The Babri Masjid Action Committee convener, Jafaryab Jilani, said whatever was stated in the State Government affidavit was not the Chief Minister's known stand. He said that there was enough evidence to prove the conspiracy theory and that he would try to apprise Mr. Yadav of the implications of the affidavit. He would also urge him to file another affidavit in the Supreme Court.

Mr Jilani felt that the State Law Department officers had failed to brief Mr. Yadav about the gravity of the matter before the affidavit was filed. Functionaries of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board said they would discuss the issue with the Chief Minister.

`Bid to protect accused'

The Congress, however, saw it as an attempt to protect the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The Uttar Pradesh Congress president, Jagdambika Pal, and the State Congaress legislature group leader, Pramod Tiwari, said that Mr. Mulayam Singh had himself opposed in Parliament the dropping of the conspiracy charge against the accused in the masjid demolition case. His present volte-face indicated that he had made a compromise on the issue of secularism.

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