SC closes contempt proceedings in 1992 Babri demolition case

New Delhi, Aug 30

The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed contempt proceedings against the Uttar Pradesh government and others, including prominent BJP leaders, in the 1992 Babri Mosque demolition case.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S. Oka, and Vikram Nath said there is a verdict delivered by a larger bench and nothing survives in this matter now. It said in view of the 2019 judgement in the Ayodhya case, the contempt no longer survived in the matter.

The bench added that there was no point in flogging a dead horse as it emphasised that a larger issue has already been decided by a five-judge bench and the petitioner has died, therefore the contempt petition against the respondents is closed.

The order has come as a relief for BJP leaders including Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar and others on a petition filed by Mohd Aslam alias Bhure, who died in 2010. In November 2019, a five-judge bench decided the title dispute in Ayodhya case in favour of the Hindu side for construction of Ram temple.

Bhure's counsel asked the court to substitute the petitioner with an amicus curiae, which was denied by the apex court.