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Babri demolition : Charges against Advani and others can not be dropped, says SC

by India Blooms News Service 06 Mar 2017, 11:10 am

New Delhi, Mar 6 (IBNS) : The Supreme Court on Monday indicated it might revive conspiracy charges against 13 Hindutva leaders, including BJP stalwarts like Lal Kishna Advani, in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case, reports said.

The indication came from an SC bench comprising Justices PC Ghosh and RS Nariman hearing a petition by the CBI challenging the Allahabad high court dropping conspiracy charges against  Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and nine others, including VHP leaders.

"We will not accept the discharge of Advani and others on technical grounds. We will allow you (CBI) to file a supplementary charge-sheet against 13 persons by including the conspiracy charges. We will ask the trial court to conduct a joint trial," the court told CBI.

The SC bench also suggested to the CBI to club two cases pending in Rae Bareli and Lucknow, adding that the matter will be heard in Lucknow.

the court said an order on March 22 will determine whether Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and 9 other BJP leaders will face charges in the 25-year-old case.

The 16th century Babri mosque  was brought down allegedly by 'karsevaks' in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, triggering waves of communal riots in the country which killed hundreds of people.