Babri Masjid case: Supreme Court adjourns hearing till tomorrow

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 22

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused senior BJP leader LK Advani’s plea to adjourn hearing on petitions challenging a trial court’s decision to drop criminal conspiracy charges against him and several other BJP and other Hindu right-wing leaders in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

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Senior counsel KK Venugopal requested a Bench of Justice PC Ghose and Justice Deepak Gupta on behalf of Advani that the matter should be heard after four weeks.

“So, you want it to be heard after May,” asked Justice Ghose who is due to retire on May 27.

“No, it can be heard in the first week of May,” replied Venugopal.

Justice Ghose said the case would be heard on Thursday when he would be sitting with Justice RF Nariman.

It was the Bench of Justice Ghose and Justice Nariman that had heard it on March 6.

Sixteen years after a Lucknow Special Court dropped the charge of criminal conspiracy against senior BJP and VHP leaders in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case on a technical ground, the saffron leaders may be in for some legal trouble as the Supreme Court has indicated that it might revive it.

“People cannot be discharged like this on a technical ground,” a Bench headed by Justice PC Ghose had said on March 6. It had hinted at allowing CBI to file a supplementary chargesheet against them.

The top court is seized of CBI’s petition challenging the 2010 Allahabad High Court order upholding the trial court’s order to discharge senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and other. The case against Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore has abated following their death.

Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh was Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister when the disputed structure at Ayodhya was demolished by thousands of ‘kar sevaks’ despite the state government’s undertaking given to the top court to protect it.

Hindus believe that Lord Ram was born at the spot where the mosque stood and the BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal want to build a temple at the place where a makeshift temple exists at present.

When the Bench suggested that the two cases relating to demolition pending in Rae Bareli and Lucknow should be clubbed and heard in Lucknow, advocates representing the BJP leaders opposed it.

On behalf of CBI, Additional Solicitor General NK Kaul, however, had said: “We are fine with the suggestion. That is the reason why we appealed against the High Court order.”

Venugopal had argued the CBI appeal was belated, to which the Bench said it would condone the inordinate delay and let the trial continue in Lucknow.

As demanded by Venugopal, the court is to hear the matter in detail.

On the last date of hearing, Venugopal had opposed shifting the trial to Lucknow, saying recording of evidence was nearing an end and 183 witnesses would have to be recalled for cross-examination. It would require conducting the entire proceedings afresh, he had said. 

Two cases were registered in connection with the Babri Masjid demolition and one each was allotted to Rae Barelli court and Lucknow courts. The CBI filed a composite chargesheet in both the cases and the state government issued a notification transferring the Rae Bareli case to Lucknow.

The Allahabad High Court quashed the notification in 2001 on the ground that the High Court was not consulted. The state did not re-issue the notification rectifying the legal lacunae.

The same year, a Lucknow Special Court dropped criminal charges against the 13 leaders on the ground there were two FIRs and the one pending before it under criminal conspiracy section did not name them. The High Court upheld the order in 2010.  It’s this order that is under challenge before the top court.