SC to hear Babri case today

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

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 22

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused senior BJP leader LK Advani’s plea to adjourn for four weeks 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.

As 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, the Bench said: “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 Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and others. 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 Rama 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 the 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.”