Retired special Central Bureau of Investigation judge Surendra Kumar Yadav, who acquitted all the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case last year, was on Monday appointed the deputy Lokyukta of Uttar Pradesh, Live Law reported. A Lokayukta is an anti-corruption ombudsman.
Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta Justice Sanjay Mishra administered the oath of office to Yadav, The Times of India reported. UP Governor Anandiben Patel had signed the notification to appoint Yadav to the post last week.
Yadav had retired as district and sessions judge in 2019 but was given an extension on orders from the Supreme court to deliver the verdict in the Babri case.
The judgement in the Babri Masjid demolition case was delivered on September 30. The special CBI court in Lucknow had said that the demolition was not pre-planned and that the people who demolished the mosque were “anti-national elements”. Yadav was the court’s presiding judge.
The court claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and the other accused in the case were, in fact, trying to control the crowds.
The Babri Masjid, located in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, was demolished by Hindutva extremists on December 6, 1992, because they believed that it stood on land that was the birthplace of deity Ram. The incident had triggered communal riots across the country. The demolition also led to bomb blasts in several parts of Mumbai, allegedly masterminded by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, in 1993. The blasts killed over 300 people.
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