Owaisi takes jibe at Surendra Yadav's appointment as UP-Lokayukta; refers to Babri verdict

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday took a dig at the appointment of retired district judge Surendra Kumar Yadav as the Up-Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh. Writing on Twitter, the Hyderabad MP said, "I am sure Judge Yadav will discharge his duties without fear or favour. There is no evidence of a conspiracy". This is seen as a reference to Yadav's verdict in the Babri mosque demolition case wherein all accused persons were acquitted. 

While he was due to retire as the Lucknow District Judge on September 30, 2019, the Supreme Court extended his retirement term by one year so that he can deliver the judgment in this case. Appointed after consultation with the Lokayukta, Yadav shall hold office for a term of six years. As per The Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta and UP-Lokayukta Act, 1975, he can investigate any action which is taken by or with the general or specific approval of any public servant not being a Minister or Secretary after receiving a complaint. 

The Babri mosque demolition case

On December 6, 1992, the Babri mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by 'Kar Sevaks' who claimed that the land on which the religious place was built is the birthplace of Lord Ram. While the criminal conspiracy charges against the 32 accused including former Deputy PM LK Advani and other BJP leaders such as Uma Bharti, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Kalyan Singh, Sakshi Maharaj, etc. were dropped by a trial court in 2001, the Supreme Court restored them in 2017. They were also alleged to have made assertions "prejudicial to national integration and injuring or defiling a place of worship", indulging in "deliberate and malicious" acts intended to outrage religious feelings, uttering statements leading to public mischief, rioting and unlawful assembly. 

On their part, the accused maintained that there is no evidence to prove that they instigated the 'Kar Sevaks' to demolish the mosque. Delivering the 2300-page judgment on September 30, 2020, Special CBI judge Surendra Kumar Yadav ruled that the Babri mosque's demolition was not pre-meditated and that there was no criminal conspiracy. Moreover, he observed that the accused had actually tried to stop the mob. Furthermore, the judge added that the authenticity of audio and video clips produced by CBI could not be proven.