The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case till Thursday, reported ANI. The bench was set to decide whether senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti should face trials in the case. The court is hearing appeals filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation against the Allahabad High Court verdict that had exonerated the leaders.
The court had earlier said that it might revive the conspiracy charges against the senior ruling party leaders. On March 6, the court had asked the CBI to file a supplementary chargesheet against the accused, including the conspiracy charges. “We will not accept the discharge of Advani and others on technical grounds,” the court had said. The bench had also expressed concern over the delay in the trial and suggested a joint trial for all the 13 accused in the case.
There are two cases in connection with the Babri mosque demolition – one in Lucknow and the other in Raebareli. The Raebareli court is hearing a case against leaders of the BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, while the other case against karsevaks is pending in the Lucknow trial court. The Supreme Court has suggested clubbing the two.
On December 6, 1992, the mosque was demolished by lakhs of karsevaks, who had gathered at the site from across the country. The incident had triggered communal riots across the country.
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