The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict on Wednesday on the CBI appeal filed against dropping conspiracy charges against senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The Apex Court will be deciding if prominent BJP leaders such as L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and others will face conspiracy charges regarding the infamous Babri Masjid case.
A bench comprising Justices PC Ghose and RF Nariman will be declaring the final verdict. The SC will also decide whether the trial of the accused VVIPs can be transferred from a court in Rae Bareli to Lucknow.
There were two sets of cases relating to the demolition of the disputed structure on December 6, 1992. The first involved unnamed ‘karsevaks’, the trial of which is taking place in a Lucknow court, while the second set of cases relate to the VVIPs in a Rae Bareli court.
In the last hearing of April 6, the CBI told the Supreme Court that 14 persons, including BJP leaders, who were acquitted of the charges under criminal conspiracy should be tried in Lucknow Court in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The CBI, however, didn’t name anyone in the court. The CBI had chargesheeted Advani and 20 others under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (false statements, rumours etc. circulated with the intent to cause mutiny or disturb public peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Noting that the matter was pending for last 25 years, the bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman said that they would invoke extraordinary powers under the Constitution’s Article 142 to transfer the trial to Lucknow where the eight leaders, including and Joshi, could be tried for conspiracy along with 13 others.