The Apex Court's observation follows an appeal filed by the CBI that challenged a 2010 Allahabad High Court order which dropped conspiracy charges against the accused on technical grounds
Senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Uma Bharti and Murli Manohar Joshi may now face charges in connection with the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, the Supreme Court indicated on Monday.
A final decision will be taken by a Bench comprising Justices PC Ghosh and RF Nariman on March 22.
The Apex Court's observation follows an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that challenged a 2010 Allahabad High Court order which dropped conspiracy charges against the accused on technical grounds.
In its 2010 order, the Allahabad High Court had dropped conspiracy charges against the accused while upholding the lower court order. Senior leaders who were charged by the CBI included the late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, former UP chief minister and now Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, along with Vinay Katiyar and Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Satish Pradhan, CR Bansal, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore (now deceased), Sadhvi Ritambhara, VH Dalmia, Mahant Avaidhynath, RV Vedanti, Paramhans Ram Chandra Das, Jagdish Muni Maharaj, BL Sharma, Nritya Gopal Das, Dharam Das, Satish Nagar and Moreshwar Save.
While ruling that there was no merit in the CBI's revision petition challenging the May 4, 2001, order of the special court, which directed dropping of criminal conspiracy charges against them, the High Court had allowed the CBI to continue trial.
In 2015, a Bench led by then Chief Justice HL Dattu issued notice to Advani, Joshi, Bharti, and Singh and asked the CBI to explain why there had been a delay in the appeal against the High Court order. The Bench had also recommended then that a joint trial of the accused be held to speed up the process, a position that it reiterated on Monday.
"Why is a separate trial going on in Lucknow and Raebareli? It must be clubbed together," the Bench said.
Over two decades since the demolition of the mosque, there have been two cases that are going on — one in Lucknow and the other in Raebareli. One involves LK Advani and others who were on the dais at Ram Katha Kunj in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, while the other is against the lakhs of 'karsevaks' (volunteers) who were in and around the disputed site.
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