The Supreme Court on Friday termed "absolutely inappropriate" and "out of context" a remark made by a counsel from the Muslim side that the Babri Masjid was destroyed on December 6, 1992, by "Hindu Taliban" and it was "an act of Hindu terror".
The top court asked senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for legal representatives of M Siddiq, one of the original litigants in Ayodhya case, not to use "inappropriate adjective" but he remained adamant.
"I stand by my words. I have said so and I shall say so. The act of destruction of the Babri Masjid was an act of Hindu Taliban and an act of Hindu terror," he said.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer, however, told Dhavan, "In the courtroom, decorum has to be maintained and any kind of adjective has to be in court language only".
The court's observation came after a counsel took offence to Dhavan's remarks.
The counsel protested strongly, "Thousands of temples were destroyed but he still called us Hindu Taliban".
The bench said, "We don't want to rule on this. The language is inappropriate."
Dhavan, for his part, told the court, "I don't think my using Hindu Taliban was inappropriate. I disagree with your observation."
Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, representing the Hindu sides, submitted that the language was completely unwarranted.
"He can't make mockery of the court proceedings. He can't call names," he said.
The bench then proceeded to hear arguments and reserved its verdict on the contention by Dhavan as to why the 1994 judgement in 'Dr Ismail Faruqui case' holding that mosque was not essential to practice of Islam must be reconsidered as it would adversely affect adjudication of the title suit relating to Babri Masjid and Ram Temple in Ayodhya.