SC Refuses Plea to Ban Mosques Named After Babur
Petition Seeking Nationwide Restraint Withdrawn After Bench Declines to Entertain It
- SC dismisses plea seeking ban on mosques named after Babur or Babri Masjid
- Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta declines to entertain petition
- Plea cited proposed Babri Masjid replica in West Bengal’s Murshidabad
- 2019 Ayodhya verdict had termed 1992 demolition an egregious violation of rule of law
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 20th Feb: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking a nationwide ban on the construction or naming of any mosque or religious structure in the name of Mughal emperor Babur or the Babri Masjid.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta declined to consider the petition. Following the court’s observations, counsel for the petitioner chose to withdraw the plea.
During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel referred to an announcement allegedly made by suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir regarding the construction of a replica of the Babri Masjid in Murshidabad, West Bengal. The petition sought directions to the Centre, state governments and other authorities to restrain or prohibit the construction, establishment or naming of any mosque or religious structure in the name of Babur or Babri Masjid, or any derivative name, anywhere in the country.
The plea described Babur as an “invader” and cited historical references, urging action against individuals allegedly engaging in such initiatives.
The issue of Babri Masjid has been at the centre of prolonged legal and political debate in India. In its landmark November 2019 judgment in the Ayodhya land dispute case, the Supreme Court allowed the construction of a Ram Mandir at the disputed site in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, while terming the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992 an “egregious violation of the rule of law.”
The court had also directed that five acres of alternate land be allotted at a prominent location in Ayodhya for the construction of a mosque.
With the withdrawal of the present plea, no further directions were issued by the apex court in the matter.
