A five-judge bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi pronounced the verdict in one of the country’s significant and sensitive cases, the Ayodhya land dispute case. Supreme court orders that Hindus to get the disputed land on conditions and that the Muslims will get an alternate land in Ayodhya.
The dispute first escalated in 1949 when an idol of the Hindu deity was planted in the central dome of the Babri Masjid and the site was closed off. Several suits were subsequently filed staking ownership to the site.
Well, the person responsible for this historic judgement is Parasaran, a 92 year old veteran lawyer and a legend at the bar who served as the lead counsel for the Hindu side and made various important arguments along the duration of the hearing.
Parasaran has enjoyed the trust of every administration since the 1970s. His courtroom orations are often lectures in Hindu scriptures. So much so, that Supreme Court judge and former chief justice of Madras High Court Sanjay Kishan Kaul referred to Parasaran as the “Pitamaha of the India Bar for his contribution to the law without compromising with his dharma
Parasaran, born on 9 October 1927, is a former Rajya Sabha member and served as attorney general of India between 1983 and 1989.
He is the son of a lawyer, Kesava Iyengar, and the father of two, Mohan Parasaran and Satish Parasaran, as well. While pursuing BA. LLB, he was awarded the Shri Justice C.V. Kumaraswami Sastri Sanskrit Medal and Justice Shri V. Bhashyam Iyengar Gold Medal in Hindu Law. During the Bar Council examination, he received the Justice Shri K.S. Krishnaswamy Iyengar Medal.
He was Advocate-General of Tamil Nadu during President’s rule in 1976 and then, Attorney General of India under Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi between 1983 to 1989
He has immense knowledge of Indian Constitution and also Hindu Dharma. During the recent Sabarimala trial in the Supreme Court, Parasaran had argued in favour of upholding the traditions of the temple.
In recent days he served as the lead counsel for the Hindu side in the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case. He was assisted by a capable team of advocates such as V Yogeshwaran, Anirudh Sharma, Sridhar Pottaraju, Aditi Dani, Ashwin Kumar D S and Bhakti Vardhan Singh.
Well, the 92 year old advocate was gracious throughout the argument, he argued that a historic wrong was committed by Babar 433 years ago when he constructed a Mosque at Lord Ram’s birthplace and it needed to be corrected.
He had many notable arguments during the hearing, such as “Muslims can pray in any other mosque in Ayodhya. There are 55-60 mosques in Ayodhya alone. But, for Hindus this is the birth place of Lord Ram, which we cannot change”.Also Parasaran asserting, “I will say once a temple always a temple”, in response to the Muslim side’s argument of “once a mosque, always a mosque”.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan in 2003 and 2011. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Indian President in 2012 for a period of six years.
Well, it was Parasaran’s blend of spirituality and legal knowledge which led to this historic win of Ayodhya land.