Senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Union Minister Uma Bharti and Murli Manohar Joshi will today appear in a court in Lucknow that has ordered them to be present for the framing of conspiracy charges related to the 1992 razing of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya.
A special CBI court last week said that the leaders would not be allowed to ask for an exemption from appearing in person. Mr Advani and Mr Joshi left for Lucknow this morning for the hearing.
The Supreme Court had last month directed that BJP leaders including LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, would face trial for conspiracy charges in the Babri case. It also transferred the trial of a separate hate speech case from a Rae Bareli to the special court in Lucknow for a joint trial with the main demolition case.
The leaders are already facing trial for making provocative speeches from a platform near the mosque before it was pulled down by karsevaks, or right-wing volunteers.
The special court was given a month to frame fresh charges against Mr Advani, 89, and a dozen other leaders and was asked to deliver its verdict within two years after daily hearings.
The conspiracy charge against Mr Advani and others was dropped by a special CBI Court in 2001, and the decision was endorsed by the Allahabad High Court in 2010.Restoring the charge, the Supreme Court described the demolition of the 16th century mosque on 6 December 1992, as a “crime” which shook the “secular fabric of the Constitution”.
The court had also strongly rebuked the CBI for a delay of 25 years in the trial and said, “The accused persons have not been brought to book largely because of the conduct of the CBI in not pursuing the prosecution of the aforesaid alleged offenders in a joint trial, and because of technical defects which were easily curable, but which were not cured by the State Government.”
The legal developments are expected to have implications and coincide with political manouvres in the race for a new president; Mr Advani had earlier been seen as one of the front-runners for the post.The demolition of the mosque followed a nationwide movement led by Mr Advani and others for a temple at the site where the mosque was constructed by the Mughals.
Many Hindus believe that the mosque was built over the birthplace of Lord Ram; they want a temple to be built there
