The Ayodhya reprieve

A PROCEDURAL FLAW should not be permitted to become the basis of a remittance - particularly, in a matter as significant as that of the detestable conspiracy to demolish the Babri Masjid. Apart from the cause of justice, a fair trial in this case is important as a reaffirmation of the country's secular faith and its readiness to hold everyone - irrespective of rank or office - accountable to the rule of law. This is why it is imperative that the legal defect, which has resulted in a clutch of Sangh Parivar heavyweights being let off the hook, is rectified as soon as possible. The Special CBI court's decision to drop criminal proceedings against three Union Ministers (Mr. L. K. Advani, Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi and Ms. Uma Bharti) and some camp-followers was not unexpected. The decision is an outcome of an earlier judicial ruling - the Allahabad High Court's order setting aside the notification for the trial of Mr. Advani and seven others on the ground that it was technically defective. However, it is not very clear at the moment why the CBI special court decided to put on hold - apart from the eight covered by the High Court order - the trial of 13 others who were not covered by the defective notification.

The Allahabad High Court was constrained to set aside the decision to frame charges against the eight persons, who were named in one particular First Information Report (FIR), because the prosecution had failed to take its statutory prior consent before referring the case to the CBI special court for trial. The High Court had explicitly acknowledged that this procedural defect was ``curable'' and made it clear that to revive the case, all that is required is a fresh notification adhering to the legal formalities. The defective notification was issued during the period Uttar Pradesh was under President's Rule and so the procedural bungle cannot be attributed to political machination. It was a plain and simple botch up - although an extraordinarily serious one in the circumstances. However, the Ayodhya case is not free from the shadow of unforgivably partisan politics. All that is required to revive the Babri Masjid demolition conspiracy case is a fresh notification issued by the Uttar Pradesh Government which states that the prior concurrence of the High Court has been taken before reference to the special court. But the BJP Government headed by Mr. Rajnath Singh has refused to commit itself to issuing such a notification. When confronted directly, the Chief Minister's ambiguous and wholly unsatisfying response is a `promise' to take ``appropriate legal action''.

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the BJP Government in the State is committed to preventing those accused of the Ayodhya conspiracy from undergoing trial. At the same time, Mr. Advani, Mr. Joshi, Ms. Bharti and their saffron fellow-travellers seem to have no qualms about exploiting a procedural infirmity to avoid judicial scrutiny. It will be a tragedy if they are allowed to get away with it. To fail to issue a fresh notification is to be a willing participant in halting the search for the truth. Pressure must be brought on Mr. Rajnath Singh to issue a fresh notification and the CBI must take the appropriate steps to challenge the special court's order legally. The Babri Masjid was pulled down over eight years ago and the fact that the trial has not even begun is shameful enough. The last thing the nation needs is for it to be further obstructed by a partisan State Government which would allow its misplaced political loyalty to totally obliterate its commitment to the rule of law.

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Section  : Opinion
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