SC seeks written reply from CBI, Advani in Babri case

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked CBI and BJP leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to file their written submissions within two weeks on a plea against dropping of conspiracy charges against them in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

A bench of Justices P C Ghose and Rohinton F Nariman told all the parties in the case to give their written arguments by April 6, and posted the matter for April 7.

“Give us your written submissions so that we can focus on them before we hear the case next,” the bench told senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for Advani, and Additional Solicitor General N K Kaul, representing CBI.

Adjourned for 2 weeks
The bench agreed to adjourn the matter for two weeks as Venugopal sought permission from the court for appearing before another bench in a part-heard matter.

On Wednesday, the apex court had hinted that the same bench of Justices Ghose and Nariman would consider the appeal in the 1992 case.

Justice Nariman had on March 6 said the order discharging the 13 accused on technical grounds was prima facie not correct and the investigating agency could have filed a supplementary charge sheet against them.

“There is something peculiar about this case,” the bench had said.

Joint trial
The court then sought to know from CBI why there couldn’t be a joint trial in the two cases registered in connection with the demolition, one each in Lucknow and Raebareli.

One of the cases is against Advani and the others who were on a dais in Ayodhya when the Babri Masjid was being demolished, while the other was against unknown karsevaks who were in and around the disputed structure. The first case was going on in Raebareli and the other in Lucknow.
DH News Service

The charges
SC adjourns Babri case hearing for two weeks
Decision taken as Advani’s advocate K K Venugopal unavailable
Spells more trouble for Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh