Today the Supreme Court started the final hearing in the almost non-ending Babri Masjid – Ram Mandir dispute. This case is being heard by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices Ashok Bhushan and Justice Abdul Nazeer who will deal with with 13 appeals against the 2010 verdict delivered by the Allahabad High Court.
During the build-up to this matter it was revealed that senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal would be appearing on the behalf of the Sunni Wakf Board. This was first revealed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and was later confirmed by legal websites.
Such a decision by a Congress leader came as a bit of a surprise for many considering the amount of effort it has been putting into wooing Hindus ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections. This has included sending Rahul Gandhi on a temple darshan spree and later declaring him a Janau dhari Hindu and a Shiv Bhakt.
The irony of this situation wasn’t lost on the people, who decided to react:
It is only polite of @narendramodi to let every Gujarati voter know that Kapil Sibal is the lawyer leading the charge against the Ram temple
I hope he does let them know soon— FoolishOfficer (@IndiaSpeaksPR) December 5, 2017
It’s Ram JanmaBhoomi final hearing in SC from today. Shiv Bhakth, Janeu Dhari Brahmin, Sri Sri Rahul Gandhi will send his best lawyer Kapil Sibal to fight case against temple Construction
— WINGS OF FIRE (@shenoy70) December 5, 2017
A few days back Kapil Sibal had said Mr.Modi is not a Hindu becos he doesn’t visit temples everyday.
Now, Kapil Sibal is one of the lawyers fighting FOR the Sunni Wakf board against Ram MandirSo, Going By Kapil Sibal’s definition of a “Real Hindu” what should we call him?
— Rupa Murthy (@ProudBhagavathi) December 5, 2017
But the drama didn’t end here. Soon after the hearing began it was reported that Sibal wanted that the hearing be adjourned until July, 2019, to preserve the decorum of law and order. Applying a simple logic it meant that, if accepted, it would mean that the issue would remain on the afterburner till 2019 lok sabha elections without any scope for resolution.
Such a stance by Sibal too didn’t go unnoticed:
Easy full toss again for BJP – Congress leaders Court me ja kar kehte hain, Ram mandir ki sunwai rok do, kyun rok do. Kyun darte hain mandir se Sibal ji……..
— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) December 5, 2017
Sibal can easily drag this into 2020 and beyond….. if govt thinks they can get a clean Verdict before 2019 then rest assured that will not happen https://t.co/xR1becnkAz
— … (@mnshzz) December 5, 2017
This is what @KapilSibal best at, “Tareekh pe Tareekh” #RamMandir
— Kamal Rajpurohit?? (@kamalpurohit95) December 5, 2017
Even a BJP spokesperson reacted:
What has the Sunni Waqf Board to do with 2019 Elections?
Kapil Sibal totally exposed ..represents the Congress’ views more than the Waqf Board’s view?@OfficeOfRG should speak out whether He stands with the TEMPLE or otherwise! https://t.co/VdaTElWrVg— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) December 5, 2017
This effort by Kapil Sibal didn’t yield any results and as per reports, the Supreme Court rejected his plea for such an adjournment. The next hearing in this matter is expected to be on 8th February 2018.
This isn’t the only time Sibal has been in the news for the choice of his clients and the stance taken by him.
We had reported how during the Triple Talaq case, Sibal had made 6 crazy arguments while appearing for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) which was against banning this draconian practice. Sibal was also seen opposing an NIA enquiry in the infamous Love Jihad case of Kerala.
In both cases he tasted defeat after instant triple talaq was banned by the Supreme Court and an NIA probe too was sanctioned in the love jihad case.
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