Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav stokes row over ‘abusive’ rant at CJI, clarifies later

Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Monday clarified after a viral video of him allegedly abusing Chief Justice of India (CJI) on camera went viral.

According to an India Today report, Yadav was asked a question on the CJI's remarks on the Ayodhya verdict. “When you bring the dead back to life, they turn into ghosts and haunt the public. Many people talk like this, should I take notice of them,” India Today quoted Yadav as saying while using a cuss word.

However, the Samajwadi Party leader later claimed that he was not asked a question on the CJI. “Nobody asked me anything about the CJI. The CJI is a very reputed person. I never made any comment (on him). I was asked about Bahraich (violence) and I responded to that,” he told ANI.

What CJI said on Ayodhya verdict?

On Sunday, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said he prayed to god for a solution to the centuries-old Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

“Very often we have cases (to adjudicate) but we don't arrive at a solution. Something similar happened during the Ayodhya (Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute) which was in front of me for three months. I sat before the deity and told him he needs to find a solution,” he said.

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“Believe me, if you have faith, God will always find a way,” PTI quoted the CJI as saying.

On November 9, 2019, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi settled a fractious issue that went back more than a century by paving the way for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The bench also ruled that a mosque will come up on an alternative five-acre plot in Ayodhya itself. CJI Chandrachud was part of the bench that delivered the historic verdict.