Sambhal mosque row: Allahabad HC junks Masjid committee plea against survey
Prayagraj/Sambhal (UP) (PTI): The Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed a plea of the Masjid committee against the survey ordered by a Sambhal court in the Shahi Jama Masjid and Harihar Temple dispute.
The court said the order to appoint a court commissioner and the suit were maintainable.
Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal had previously reserved its order on the matter after hearing counsel for the Masjid committee and plaintiff Hari Shanker Jain aside from the counsel for the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).
The Committee of Management, Shahi Jama Masjid, moved the high court challenging the suit and the Sambhal court order which directed the survey through an advocate commissioner.
Jain and seven others filed the suit before a civil judge senior division, Sambhal contending the Shahi Idgah Mosque was built after demolishing a temple at Sambhal.
The mosque, it claimed, was built by Mughal emperor Babur in 1526 after demolishing the Harihar Mandir in Sambhal.
The high court had previously stayed further proceedings before the trial court.
While talking to PTI, Shri Gopal Sharma the lawyer of the Hindu side in the Shahi Jama Masjid said, "The high court has rejected it as per the rules. We welcome the decision of the high court. The survey ordered by the civil judge senior division of Sambhal was within the law and was appropriate."
On the other hand, the lawyer of the Muslim side, Shakeel Ahmed Warsi, told PTI that the Allahabad High Court's order was according to the judicial process.
The original plaintiffs in the suit claimed the right of access to the religious site at Mohalla Kot Purvi in Sambhal district.
The committee alleged the suit was filed at noon on November 19, 2024 and within hours, the judge appointed an advocate commissioner and directed him to carry out an initial survey at the mosque, which was done on the same day and again on November 24, 2024.
The court had also directed that a report of the survey be filed before it by November 29.
On January 10, the top court directed the Sambhal district magistrate to maintain status quo on reviving or allowing prayers at a "private" well located near the entrance of the mosque.
Considering a plea of the committee the top court issued notices to the Centre, the director general of the ASI, Sambhal district magistrate and other private Hindu side litigants led by Jain.
On November 24, last year protesters gathered near the mosque and clashed with the security personnel, leading to stone pelting and arson, leaving four dead and several injured.
The top court, on November 29 last year, ordered the Sambhal court to halt proceedings in the case over the mosque and its survey at Chandausi while directing the UP government to maintain peace and harmony in the violence-hit town.
The mosque committee moved the Supreme Court on November 28, challenging the November 19 order of the district court directing the survey of the Mughal-era mosque and sought an ex-parte stay on the operation of the November 19, last year order passed by the civil judge.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
