The court transfers the case from Rae Bareilly to Lucknow, insists on a time-bound trial
The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived the conspiracy charges against BJP’s L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and 13 others in the 25-year-old Babri Masjid demolition case. The court also transferred the case from Rae Bareilly to Lucknow.
A Bench of Justices P.C. Ghose and Rohinton F. Nariman, in its ruling, said the case should be tried in a time-bound, day-to-day basis, without any adjournments or transfer of trial judge.
Union Minister Uma Bharti is also among the accused, who will be tried for criminal conspiracy. Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh has been exempted from trial due to constitutional immunity under Article 361. No case would be registered against him when he is the Governor; trial against him will begin once he steps down.
In May 2001, a Special Court dropped the criminal conspiracy charges against Mr. Advani and top BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders, including Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Dr. Joshi, and Ms. Bharti, among others.
In May 2010, the Allahabad High Court dismissed the CBI’s plea to revive the conspiracy charges, following which the agency moved the Supreme Court in appeal in February 2011.
