SC Dismisses Plea to Ban Structures Named After Babar
SC Dismisses Plea to Ban Structures Named After Babar
The Supreme Court dismisses a plea to ban naming mosques or structures after Babar, brushing aside the merit challenge sparked by a Babri Masjid replica plan in Murshidabad.
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a public interest litigation seeking directions to restrain the Union government and states from permitting the construction or naming of any mosque or structure in the name of Mughal ruler Babar. The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta refused to entertain the petition almost immediately after briefly hearing the petitioner’s counsel. We want this court to restrain the construction of a mosque or any structure in the name of Babar, who was an invader and a cruel ruler, the lawyer for the petitioner argued, referring to the suspended TMC lawmaker Humayun Kabir. The bench showed little inclination to engage with the merits, saying, Dismissed, repeatedly, as it responded to the persistence of the advocate. With the court making its position clear, the petitioner’s counsel sought permission to withdraw the plea, which was allowed. The petition had sought a writ of mandamus directing the Union government and all states to restrain or ban the construction, establishment, or naming of any religious structure in the name of “Babur or Babri Masjid or any other derivative names” across India. The immediate trigger for the plea was Kabir’s announcement last year that he intended to construct a replica of the Babri Masjid in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, which sparked political controversy in poll-bound West Bengal. The court’s terse order underlined its reluctance to engage with the broader merits of naming conventions tied to historic figures, at least in this petition, and closed the matter with a firm dismissal.
