Ruling based on faith, evidence: Sharma

Sharma said his judgment on Mandir-Masjid dispute was based on conclusions drawn both in accordance with the faith of people and circumstantial evidences. He was one of the three judges of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court who on Thursday delivered the verdict on the protracted dispute.

“The conclusion was drawn as per the faith of the people and circumstantial evidence. I dealt with the evidence in detail,” he told a TV channel, after a farewell ceremony organised by the Oudh Bar Association on his last day as a judge of the HC.

Sharma in his dissenting judgment on Thursday completely rejected the Muslims’ claim on the disputed site in Ayodhya on the ground that the Babri Masjid, which was demolished on December 6, 1992, had been built against the tenets of Islam and therefore could not be treated as a mosque.

Justices Sudhir Agrawal and S U Khan, however, in their respective judgments ordered a division of the disputed site into three parts – two for the Hindus and one for the Muslims.

Sharma observed in his verdict that the disputed structure had been built by Mughal Emperor Babur on the site of an old structure after demolition of a massive Hindu religious structure as reported by the Archeological Survey of India. He held that the disputed site was the birthplace of Lord Ram.

“The knowledge (about Lord Ram’s birthplace) was acquired from time immemorial through our ancestors and as per people’s belief,” Sharma said.

He said he had “weighed the evidence in accordance with law”. “I have delivered the judgment to the best of my ability, after having put in 38 years in service,” he said. He had last month differed with Khan and Agrawal and given a dissenting judgment on the plea of Ramesh Chandra Tripathi for deferment of the verdict on Ayodhya.

Sharma, who was elevated to the high court in 2005, had been the Principal Secretary, Parliamentary Affairs and Law, in the Uttar Pradesh government. He graduated from Bulandshahr district in 1967 and completed his law degree in 1970. He was promoted to the higher judicial services in 1985 and became a district and sessions judge in 2002.

At a function at the Judges Club on Friday, the judges of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court led by Chief Justice F I Rebello wished him good luck for the future.