By Deeptiman Tiwary , Damini Nath
As many as as 30 retired Judges of the Supreme Court and various high courts participated in a meeting organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s ‘vidhi prakoshth’ (legal cell) on Sunday, which is learnt to have discussed the legal dispute over the Varanasi and Mathura temples, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and religious conversions among other issues. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal was also present at the gathering.
“We had invited retired Judges of the Supreme Court and high courts. The collective issues before the society — such as the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, handing back of temples, handing over of temples under government control (to the society), conversions etc — were discussed. The objective was free exchange of views between the Judges and the VHP so that both develop an understanding of each other,” VHP president Alok Kumar said.
VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said it was a platform to exchange ideas. “There was discussion on nationalism and Hindutva. The laws affecting Hindus, liberation of temples, religious conversions, killing of cows and the Waqf Board were discussed,” he said.
Late on Sunday, Meghwal posted on X photographs of the gathering which had senior VHP leaders such as Alok Kumar and joint general secretary Surendra Jain apart from several former Judges. “There was a detailed discussion on judicial reforms aimed at making India a developed country,” Meghwal said, adding that “retired Judges, jurists, senior lawyers and intellectuals” were present.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
