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Delhi: Senior Indian advocate and retired Delhi High Court judge S. Muralidhar has delivered a sharp indictment of the Indian judiciary\u2019s handling of sensitive religious disputes, particularly those involving Muslims, warning that the courts have failed to uphold constitutional values in the wake of Babri Masjid demolition.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, delivering the A.G. Noorani Memorial Lecture at the India Islamic and Cultural Centre in Delhi, Muralidhar described the Supreme Court\u2019s conduct as an instance of \u201cunforgivable institutional amnesia\u201d.<\/p>\n
Muralidhar cited the SC\u2019s inaction on the suo motu contempt petition against former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, filed after the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992. \u201cIt was not taken up for 22 years\u201d, he said. When the matter eventually came before Justice Sanjay Kaul, he noted, it was dismissed as a closed chapter with the judge saying, \u201cWhy flog a dead horse.\u201d \u201cThis is institutional amnesia, which in my view is unforgivable, of an act which the Supreme Court found was an egregious crime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also cited the Ayodhya judgment of 2019, arguing that the Court went beyond the scope of the suits before it. \u201cNo one had asked for the construction of a temple,\u201d he said. The ruling, he added, \u201cwas completely outside the realm of the suits\u201d and its fallout continues to affect the courts. He said the directions issued under Article 142 had neither a legal foundation nor any request from the Indian government or Hindu parties, and the temple construction question was never part of the original dispute.<\/p>\n
Despite the Places of Worship Act, litigation over religious sites has multiplied, Muralidhar warned. \u201cWe have had suits emerging everywhere,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
The retired judge also criticised television media for framing national debates in terms of \u201cHindu-Muslim questions\u201d. \u201cWe tend to forget that ours is a composite culture,\u201d he said.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referring indirectly to former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, widely regarded as the Ayodhya verdict\u2019s author, he observed that the decision was officially issued without attribution, yet the author had later said he had \u201cconsulted the deity\u201d before delivering it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Delhi: Senior Indian advocate and retired Delhi High Court judge S. Muralidhar has delivered a sharp indictment of the Indian judiciary\u2019s handling of sensitive religious disputes, particularly those involving Muslims, warning that the courts have failed to uphold constitutional values in the wake of Babri Masjid demolition. According to Kashmir Media Service, delivering the A.G. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":183199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-183177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","tag-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t