Ayodhya dispute: Justice U U Lalit who recused from hearing had represented Kalyan Singh as lawyer in 1997

Justice U U Lalit, who recused himself Thursday from the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court hearing the politically-sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land title dispute in Ayodhya, had represented the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh who faced contempt proceedings after the disputed structure was demolished.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for a Muslim party, placed before a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, the apex court order of November 20, 1997, which noted the name of Justice Lalit, who was then the lawyer appearing for Singh.

The contempt petition against Singh was with a bench then comprising Justices G N Ray and SP Bharucha.

The disputed structure was demolished on December 6, 1992. A day before the incident, Singh as a chief minister had promised that status quo would be maintained at the disputed site.

Dhavan on Thursday reminded the bench, also comprising Justices S A Bobde, N V Ramana, U U Lalit and D Y Chandrachud, that Singh, who is now the Governor of Rajasthan, had failed to abide by his promise to maintain status quo.

After the demolition of the disputed structure, Singh was given a token punishment of one-day imprisonment.