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Destruction of the Babri Mosque on December 12, 1992 meant an absent government
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By
Zafarul-Islam Khan, IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, September 19 (IslamOnline) - The BSP-BJP coalition government
in Uttar Pradesh (UP) decided Wednesday, September 18, that there was
neither any "justification nor necessity" for issuing a
fresh notification to constitute a special tribunal to try the Babri
Masjid demolition case in which Deputy Prime Minister and Home
Minister LK Advani, Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar
Joshi and Sports Minister Uma Bharati are among the accused.
Addressing
a press conference in UP capital, Lucknow, State Chief Minister Ms
Mayawati said her government submitted its reply before the Supreme
Court. Mayawati said that no notification is necessary since there is
already a special tribunal functioning at Rae Barielly and there is an
ordinary court of law in Faizabad where the crime was committed.
The
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), taking care of the case, can
ask any of these two courts to take up the issue. In Mayawati's view
there was no justification for a second special tribunal at Lucknow to
try some of the accused in the case. Incidentally the chief accused,
LK Advani, is the political boss of the CBI at present since he is the
central home minister.
The
Chief Minister said that the CBI was free to proceed with the case in
a competent court and her government had nothing to do with it.
Mayawati added that she was against a special court to try any
important person, as, in her regime all were equal in the eyes of law.
Mayawati
said that about 10 years had already lapsed since the demolition of
the "disputed structure" and the case had been tried in
different courts in the state without any decision and, therefore, at
this stage her government did not deem it necessary to issue a fresh
notification for the trial of Advani, Joshi, Uma Bharti and others.
The
Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on February 12, 2001,
quashed the notification by the state government constituting the
special court to try the case in which Advani, Joshi, Bharati and some
others are the accused, citing a technical defect but opined that the
state government, if it so desired, could issue a fresh notification
rectifying it.
The
special CBI court at Lucknow trying the Ayodhya demolition case later
dropped proceedings against the three federal ministers and some
others in the light of the Allahabad High Court order.
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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati let off her allies |
Mayawati
said that special courts were constituted for speedy disposal of
cases, but in this case the decision was awaited even after 10 years.
Mayawati said that the very purpose of constituting special court was
defeated when the CBI filed a joint chargesheet clubbing case numbers
197/92 and 198/92 in the special CBI court in Lucknow.
After
the case 198/92 was handed over to the CBI, it got both the cases
transferred to a special CBI court in Lucknow for trial, thereby
delaying the matter further, she pointed out.
The
Allahabad High Court had quashed the notification issued by the then
government by which it transferred the case 198/92 to the special
court, she said. The Chief Minister said that her government firmly
believed that the accused in the case number 198/92 should be tried in
connection with the charges.
Mayawati,
accused "anti-social elements" for the demolition of the
Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. She claimed that the BJP
was not solely responsible for the Ayodhya imbroglio for which the
Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) were also equally responsible.
She
added that the BJP did take political advantage of the Ayodhya issue
and stormed to power for the first time in UP after the incident, but
maintained that the Congress and the SP had also tried to gain
political mileage out of the incident. The Chief Minister alleged that
the Congress and the SP were in the root of the Ayodhya dispute and
the BJP entered the fray at a later stage.
In
a related development, the UP state government yesterday filed an
affidavit in the Supreme Court of India submitting that there was no
need for issuing a fresh notification for constituting a special court
for trial of Ayodhya case in which Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani
and federal ministers M M Joshi and Uma Bharti are accused among
several other persons.
The
affidavit was filed following the Supreme Court's direction seeking a
reply from the state government on the issue by September 23. The apex
court had sought UP Government's reply on the issue following a bunch
of writ petitions challenging the Allahabad High Court order holding
that the special court was against the provision of law due to certain
technical flaws in the notification issued earlier.
Congress
Party today, September 18, termed the UP state government's decision
not to issue fresh notification in the Ayodhya case as
"deliberate subversion of the process of law" and said the
federal ministers accused in it were "hiding behind
technicalities" to escape punishment.
"It
is a pity that senior ministers in the National Democratic Alliance
government, including Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani and his two
colleagues Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharati are hiding behind
technicalities to escape punishment for serious crimes committed by
them, especially after the CBI found a sound case for prosecution of
the accused persons," Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said in
a statement.
Alleging
Mayawati Government's decision did not respect the Supreme Court, he
said it was gross violation of constitutional responsibility and a
crude attempt to curry favour with persons in authority by letting
them free. "This case is going on in court and after launching
the prosecution almost a decade ago the state government cannot shirk
its responsibility and compromise the principle of natural justice
with political expediency," he said.
The
Congress spokesman said refusal to bring out notification to correct
the technical infirmity to facilitate prosecution of the accused in
the case was "negation of the very concept of law".
"It
is believed that there was a tacit understanding at the time of
formation of coalition government in UP that Mayawati would not issue
a fresh notification though she herself demanded it when she was in
opposition," Sharma said.
The
Babri demolishers will benefit whether the CBI decided not to press
the case, or if it did by transferring it to an ordinary court of law
in Faizabad, where the crime was committed, India's extremely
slow-moving legal machine will ensure that the culprits will never be
punished.
