A special CBI court on Wednesday, 30 September, acquitted all the accused in the case of demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992 in Ayodhya.
The 28-year-old case is one of the most important cases in the country. Soon after the verdict was announced, Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav retired on the same day.
While pronouncing his verdict on Babri Masjid demolition, the CBI court Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav had said that the stone-pelting started at 12 noon on the disputed structure in Ayodhya on 6 December 1992.
Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ashok Singhal, who passed away in 2015, wanted to preserve the structure as the structure contained statues. To keep the ‘karsevaks’ busy, they were asked to bring flowers and water.
Judge Yadav did not consider the newspaper evidence and said that the video evidence was also unclear.
Faizabad And Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav
Faizabad district, which is now known as Ayodhya, has an old connection with Surendra Kumar Yadav. Surendra Kumar Yadav, completed his degree in BSc in 1978, LLB in 1981 and LLM in 1983, his first posting was in Faizabad as an Additional Judge on 8 June 1990.
Judge Yadav remained stationed in Faizabad till 31 May 1993. During the time of Babri Masjid demolition, he was posted in the district.
Surendra Kumar Yadav was supposed to retire in 2019, but he got an extension of one year due to the Babri demolition case.
Yadav who is from Jaunpur, UP, has served in districts like Ghazipur, Hardoi, Etawah, Lucknow, Unnao, and Gorakhpur apart from Faizabad. On 25 November 2018, he was posted in Lucknow as a special judge in the Ayodhya case.
On 19 April 2017, the Supreme Court transferred the proceedings of Babri demolition case which were going on in the special court of Rae Bareli to a Lucknow special court.
(This article was originally published on Hindi Quint)
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