Owaisi reminds of the 28-year-old Babri Masjid case as SC holds Prashant Bhushan guilty

As Supreme Court pronounces senior advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court in the suo moto contempt plea against him, AIMIM chief Assaduddin Owaisi, on Friday, reminded the 28-year-old criminal contempt case regarding Babri Masjid pending in the SC. The three-judge bench of Supreme Court Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari said that Bhushan committed 'serious contempt of court' and that the hearing on the quantum of punishment will be held on August 20. The apex court had taken cognizance of Bhushan's tweets on the Chief Justice of India and his four predecessors.

SC pulls up Prashant Bhushan & Twitter for alleged derogatory tweets against judiciary

Owaisi reminds 28-year-old criminal contempt case of Babri Masjid.

Prashant Bhushan held guilty for contempt of court by SC for tweets against CJI, judiciary

SC holds Bhushan guilty

Earlier in the day, the SC had held Bhushan guilty of contempt of court for posting tweets to malign the image of the judiciary. Maintaining that Bhushan's tweet commenting on CJI SA Bobde's photo on a motorcycle in Nagpur and alleging the 'SC is under lockdown' was factually incorrect. It also said that the comments on the CJI  to hint that he is keeping the SC in lockdown was malicious and has a tendency to 'shake the confidence' of the public at large in the judiciary.

Babri Masjid demolition case: SC sets deadline for CBI court to pronounce verdict by Aug

Observing on Bhushan's second tweet alleging the SC and the previous four CJI's role in the 'destruction of Indian democracy in the past 6 years', the SC said that the criticism is not against a particular judge but the institution of the Supreme Court and the institution of the CJI. The Court said that despite himself being a part, Advocate Bhushan indulged in making statements that brought 'disrepute to the institution of administration of justice'. While Advocate Dushyant Dave appearing for Bhushan argued that his comments were warranted as there have been 'shortcomings' in the functioning of the judiciary, the top court rejected the argument.

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Babri Masjid Demolition case

The 1992 Babri Demolition case has been dragging for nearly three decades, with the Supreme Court directing the CBI Court in Lucknow to conduct the proceedings setting August 31, 2020, as the deadline for the verdict in the case. In May 2017, the special CBI court charged BJP leaders L.K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Union Minister Uma Bharti and others with criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case, as per reports. The delay in the examination of the eye-witnesses had reportedly been due to delay in framing charges against senior BJP leader Kalyan Singh - who enjoyed immunity as the Governor of Rajasthan. Singh had been the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, when a mob demolished the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.