Missing Babri files: Court dissatisfied with CBI probe

The Bench,comprising Justices S U Khan,Sudhir Agarwal and D V Sarma,observed: “We are thoroughly dissatisfied with the manner in which the CBI dealt with this matter and have reason to infer that either the slackness or reluctance on the part of the CBI is deliberate on their own or on account of some influence on the part of the controlling government.”

In its report,the CBI stated that the exact timing and the responsibility for the loss of files could not be established due to the non-availability of the record of the relevant period.

Moreover,there was no evidence to indicate any malafide intention on the part of any official of the state government.

After the court directed the government to produce seven documents relating to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute on an application of the Sunni Central Board of Waqfs,the state government,in July last year,informed the court that as many as 23 files,and not just seven letters,were missing.

The government informed that the files were last taken by an Officer on Special Duty in the state Home Department’s Communalism Control Cell Subhash Bhan Sadh in 2000 to Delhi. The officer later died in an accident.

The government then lodged an FIR against an unidentified person and also recommended a CBI investigation.

The court also ordered a CBI inquiry on its own. In its report,the CBI stated that Subhash Bhan Sadh did not carry any file with him when he went to Delhi.