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‘Expedite Babri cases pending in courts’

Atiq Khan

LUCKNOW: With the Liberhan Commission and the action taken report (ATR) tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the All-India Babri Masjid Action Committee (AIBMAC) has demanded that the Babri cases pending in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court and the Special CBI Court in Rae Bareli and Lucknow be expedited.

Zafaryab Jilani, convenor of the AIBMAC, said the Centre should approach the Supreme Court or the High Court for expediting the cases.

“The move should be made soon by the Government by giving an application through an appropriate authority in the interest of justice,” Mr. Jilani told TheHindu, adding that the AIBMAC favoured day-to-day hearing in the case.

The secular parties, particularly the Samajwadi Party and the Left, should exert pressure on the Government for expeditious disposal of the cases pending in the law courts, Mr. Jilani added.

Pending hearings

The hearing in the case relating to the title suit of the Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya pending in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court continued till August 28, 2009, and no hearing has taken place since then.

In the case (crime number 198 pertaining to charges of conspiracy to demolish the mosque against eight persons) pending before the CBI Court in Rae Bareli, another witness deposed before the court on Monday. The court has fixed December 19 as the next date of hearing. Hearing in another case (crime number 197) is pending in the CBI court in Lucknow.

While almost all the top Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leaders have been indicted by the Liberhan Commission, the AIBMAC has reportedly also been subjected to criticism. “The Muslim leaders were not called to depose before the Commission,” Mr. Jilani said.

However, on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee being indicted by the Commission, Mr. Jilani said that though Mr. Vajpayee might have been aware of the conspiracy (to demolish the mosque), he was not present at any of the meetings which have been given as evidence by the CBI.

The AIBMAC was also surprised over former Prime Minster P.V. Narasimha Rao being given a virtual clean chit by the Liberhan panel. In fact, a contempt petition was filed against Mr. Rao and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh in the apex court after the demolition of the masjid. The case is still pending, Mr. Jilani said.

Since the contentious Ayodhya issue has returned to the limelight, the Liberhan Commission report and the ATR would figure in the one-day Executive Committee meeting of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board in Lucknow on December 20.

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