Advani, Joshi, Bharti, 9 others get bail in Babri demolition case

A special CBI court in Lucknow on Tuesday granted bail to former deputy PM LK Advani, BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi and Cabinet minister Uma Bharti, along with nine others in the Babri demolition case.

The saffron leaders were granted bail on personal bond of Rs 50,000 each.

The leaders told the special CBI court they had no role in the mosque razing and should not be tried for conspiracy.

The defence counsel moved a "discharge application" in which the accused claimed not guilty in the December 1992 razing of the mosque at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

The court is now dictating the order on the discharge application, lawyers said.

All of them were named in the FIR filed after the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 for allegedly instigating the mob and conspiracy behind the razing of the disputed structure.

The razing of the Babri Masjid incited nationwide riots between Hindus and Muslims; around 2,000 people were killed.

The Supreme Court had on April 19 ordered prosecution of Advani, Joshi, Uma Bharti, and other accused for criminal conspiracy in the politically sensitive case. It had also ordered day-to-day trial to be concluded in two years.

The special court was given a month by the Supreme Court to frame conspiracy charges against those accused in the Babri demolition case, and was asked to deliver its verdict within two years.

The apex court ordered that two separate cases in Lucknow and Raebareli against Advani, Joshi and Bharti and unknown 'kar sevaks' shall be brought together in one trial.

Just minutes before the hearing began today, BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj said “no power on earth” can stop the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya ahead of proceedings in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case in Lucknow: