96-year-old Hashim Ansari, oldest litigant in Babri Masjid case passes away

The oldest litigant in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri mosque dispute, Mohammad Hashim Ansari, passed away here today morning.

The 96-year-old was earlier this month admitted to the ICU of King George Medical University in Lucknow after he complained of chest pain and congestion.

Ansari, who has been involved in Babri Masjid case since 1949, had expressed unhappiness over the politicisation of the case.

He was also sentenced to two years jail by Faizabad court in 1954 for giving call for namaz at the Babri Masjid.

Ansari along with six others became main plaintiff in the 'Ayodhya title suit' filed by the Sunni Central Waqf Board in the court of Faizabad civil judge in 1961.

A large crowd of 'Kar Sevaks' had destroyed the 16th-century Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.