SC closes Gujarat riots, Babri Masjid demolition cases

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dropped the contempt petitions filed against Uma Bharati, MM Joshi, Sadhvi Ritambara, Vinay Katiyar and some former officials of the Uttar Pradesh government in connection with the Babri mosque demolition. "You cannot keep flogging a dead horse," the top court said, adding that a larger bench of the court has already delivered a ruling on the Ayodhya matter (November 9, 2019).

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul observed that "nothing survives in the matter now". The decision closes all legal proceedings that were open in the matter pertaining to the razing of the 16th-century mosque.

In a separate matter, the court also closed all proceedings arising out of the 2002 Gujarat riots. "Trials in eight out of nine cases are over and final arguments are going on in one case in a trial court, Naroda Gaon, Gujarat," a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, UU Lalit, observed. The court said the cases at hand have become infructuous with passage of time.


The same day the court also closed contempt of court proceedings against advocate Prashant Bhushan for his remarks against former Chief Justices of India. "In view of the explanation/apologies made by the contemnors, we don't deem it necessary to continue the matter," the court observed.

The matter pertained to remarks made by Bhushan in an interview in 2009 in which he had alleged that several previous CJIs were corrupt.