IANS

Lucknow, Jul 15: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court Wednesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a final report regarding the 23 missing files of the Babri Masjid title suit.

The three-judge bench comprising justices Sayed Rafat Alam, Sudhir Agarwal and D.V. Sharma also observed that action should be taken against officials responsible for this, whether they are serving or retired.

A first information report (FIR) in this connection was lodged by the government July 9 in the Hazratganj police station of the capital following which the state government referred the case to the CBI.

According to the FIR, some documents related to the case were in the possession of the then Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Shubhash Bhan Shaad, who died in an accident in New Delhi in April 2000.

The court has sought an interim report from the CBI by Aug 25, said Zafaryarb Jilani, counsel of the plaintiff Hashim Ansari.

According to the Sunni Central Board of Wakfs, the missing papers were vital for establishing its claim that the Babri Masjid existed at the Ayodhya site and that the idols of Lord Rama were surreptitiously placed on the intervening night of Dec 22 and 23, 1949.

Home Secretary Mahesh Kumar Gupta had earlier confirmed that according to the status report on a case before the Allahabad High Court, 23 files were missing.