Mumbai: 'Babri demolition not planned? Surprising'

Two veteran city journalists Pratap Asbe and Uday Tanpathak never thought they would be called to depose in the Babri Masjid demolition case But they did in Lucknows Special CBI court in 2018 to recount the events of December 6 1992 when they were reporting for their respective publicationsSpeaking to midday on Wednesday Asbe said the judgment was surprising They say the demolition wasnt planned and it wasnt a conspiracy I told the court what I had seen and heard that day he saidTanpathak said it could be a handicap of the system which investigated the event that changed the countrys political course The judgment was expected because the court didnt have evidence to prove a conspiracy Back then the technology wasnt as advanced as it is today wherein investigators can do wonders to bring the accused to justice I think there was more hearsay than evidence produced in this case said TanpathakAsbe and Tanpathaks testimonies appear one after the other in the 2300page judgment How did they land in the witness box It was news dispatches they wrote for their newspapers in 1992 that caught the Central Bureau of Investigations CBI attention Asbe worked with the Marathi daily Maharashtra Times from where he retired a couple of years ago Tanpathak had started working for a Marathi daily Pudhari just a month before he was assigned the Ayodhya tour He is still with the newspaperStatements recorded in 90sTheir statements were recorded by the CBI three years after they reported the demolition I think it was 1995 when a CBI team visited my office The officers recorded my statement for three hours And years later in 2018 I was summoned to the CBI court said AsbeTanpathak not only recorded his statement but also appeared before the Liberhan Commission that probed the demolition for 16 years I dont think I would have appeared at the CBI court if it werent for my friend in Dombivli who received a letter at my old address I had shifted to Mumbai a long time ago but my friend told me about the summons said TanpathakCourt got better premisesTanpathak also recalls visiting a 4thfloor darkroomlike court which later shifted to a better building He says there is a story behind the shifting of the courtroom We were told that the then chief justice of Allahabad High Court was informed by some influential witnesses that the bad condition of the courtroom may upset top politicians their lawyers and journalists who were witnesses and had to sit there for a long time The courtroom was shifted overnight to a better building with good facilities We were in Lucknow for our deposition when the shifting happened said TanpathakTanpathak wasnt allowed to sit in the courtroom when Asbe recorded his statement and was crossexamined But Asbe was allowed when Tanpathak appeared before the courtAsbe said he was grilled for over two days by the defence lawyers I was crossexamined aggressively by the lawyers defending Lal Krishna Advani Murli Manohar Joshi Uma Bharti and others who were not found guilty in the judgment I told the court who provoked the karsevaks to demolish the Babri Masjid I said whatever I saw that day the veteran scribe saidMulayam Singhs observationAsbe recalled meetings with Mulayam Singh Yadav Samajwadi Party leader and exCM of UP in Mumbai 15 days before the demolition I didnt believe Singh when he said to me Woh log masjid nochnewale hain Those people are going to demolish the masjid I met Singh after the demolition to remind him of his observation said AsbeThe two witnesses said while they did their duty the system that called them to court did not even bother to compensate them for travel and boarding expenses We were told that all our expenses will be reimbursed But we have yet get it said Asbe now living a retired lifeKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news