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Centre signalled Allahabad
HC to delay verdict: Advani

Deposing before the Liberhan commission of inquiry, he said that he did not think the analysis that the Centre's signals to the high court to delay the judgement was "factually wrong".

He said "throughout November 1992, from our side, we had been making direct approaches to the high court for an early verdict as the arguments have been complete for over a month.

"(Atal Bihari) Vajpayee met the Prime Minister (P V Narasimha Rao), I met the PM and we urged him to request the high court to give an early verdict. After all, it was entirely up to the high court to time its verdict," he said.

Advani added, "The government, like any other authority, could request it. When it is publicly known that the government has conveyed to Vajpayee, Advani and others that the government is not going to make even a request for an early verdict, what is the message conveyed to the judiciary, except what I said in the statement."

Advani blamed the Centre for not taking steps to urge the high court to deliver an early judgement, and added, "If the high court had pronounced its verdict on its own before December 6, in response to our requests, the demolition would not have occurred."

The home minister, recalling what was told to him by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Prof Rajendra Singh, said Singh met Rao on December 3 and "urged him again to request the Allahabad High Court for an early verdict", as the "RSS itself had certain doubts whether they would be able to keep all these lakhs (of kar sevaks) under control."

Singh told Rao that if the judgement was delivered, irrespective of whether it upheld or rejected, the Uttar Pradesh Government's notification acquiring 2.77 acres of land adjacent to the disputed structure, it would help diffuse the situation, the BJP leader said.

When Singh told the then prime minister that he was apprehending untoward incidents during the "symbolic kar seva " on December 6, 1992, Rao had replied that he was confident that with leaders like Singh around everything would remain in control and nothing untoward would happen.

Advani said had the verdict been against the state government, the physical kar seva could have started on the land belonging to the Nyas Committee and had it been upheld the same could have been started on it.

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