SC seeks response of Advani, 18 ors in Babri demolition case

The Supreme Court today sought the responses of veteran BJP leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, union minister Uma Bharti and 16 others on a fresh plea against a 2010 order of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court dropping criminal conspiracy charge against them in the Babri mosque demolition case.
A bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra issued notices to BJP and other religious leaders on a fresh plea filed by Haji Mahboob Ahmad, one of the petitioners in the civil suit relating to the mosque case.
Besides BJP leaders Advani, Joshi and Bharti, the court also sought response from Himachal Pradesh Governor Kalyan Singh, among others.

Besides the 19 leaders, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore were also among the accused. Both have since died.
Meanwhile, the bench granted four weeks time to CBI, which had also moved the apex court against dropping of criminal conspiracy charge against the leaders, to file a fresh affidavit to explain the delay in filing the appeal before it.
The bench then said it would hear arguments on merits as well as on the delay aspect at the next hearing.

Ahmad, in his plea, has sought setting aside of the High Court's order of May 20, 2010, dropping section 120B (criminal conspiracy) under the IPC.

"It appears that an artificial distinction was made by the trial court attempting to assign a role in respect of each of the accused persons and to see which offences were made out. The trial court erroneously came to the conclusion that 21 persons (leaders) were not entitled to be tried in crime case no. 197/1992...
"The distinction has been made out on the ground that in respect of persons against whom only offences of instigation and other allied offences were made out, they should be relegated to crime case no. 198/1992," the plea said, adding that the trial against the persons, allegedly involved in the actual demolition, have been wrongly been separated.

"This error in the judgement of the trial court and the high court is contrary to the fundamental principles of criminal jurisprudence... The said transaction has to be viewed in as a whole and evidence cannot be led at two different courts," it said.
Earlier, the CBI had also moved the apex court against dropping of criminal conspiracy charge against various persons also including Vinay Katiyar and Vishnu Hari Dalmiya.