NEW DELHI: In a major jolt to senior BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, present NDA minister Uma Bharti and others, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that they will be tried for conspiring to bring down Babri Masjid in Ayodhya 25 years ago while allowing CBI's plea.
A bench of Justice P C Ghose and R F Nariman allowed CBI plea for reviving criminal charged against these leaders and others and ordered day-to-day trial in the case and made it clear that the trial should be completed in two years time and case will be heard by a Lucknow court.
The court also made it clear that no adjournment would be granted by the court and judge hearing the case will also not be transferred till completion of the trial. The bench also gives liberty to petitioners to approach it in case its directions are not followed.
The court also ask CBI to ensure that on every hearing there is a prosecution witness and case shall not be adjourned for want of witness.
However, senior party leader Kalyan Singh, who was the UP chief minister then, is protected since he is a Rajasthan governor now, but the court made it clear that charges would be framed against him once he ceases to be governor.
The development comes nearly after 16 years when the charges were dropped by a Lucknow court on technical grounds.
CBI in its plea stated that it has evidence that the BJP leaders, who made their speeches on a stage near the mosque on the day that it was razed, were part of their plan to bring down the mosque.
In 2010, the Allahabad High Court disagreed with the CBI about criminal conspiracy charges for the BJP leaders, CBI had then appealed against that decision in the top court.