Babri Masjid Case: Advani,and others to face trial with sevaks

Wednesday 26th April 2017 07:10 EDT
 
 

Calling the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya “crimes which shake the secular fabric of the Constitution of India”, the Supreme Court put senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, and Union Minister Uma Bharti on a joint trial with 'kar sevaks' in the 1992 case. The bench constituting of Justices PC Ghose, and Rohinton F Nariman, said the SC was convinced it must use its power under Article 142 to do complete justice in the matter and club the trial of Advani and others with scores of kar sevaks, so a judgement is delivered within two years.

The bench said, “In the present case, crimes which shake the secular fabric of the Constitution of India have allegedly been committed almost 20 years ago. 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.”

As it revived the criminal conspiracy charges against the senior leaders of the BJP, and shifted their trial from Rae Bareli, the court also ordered restoration of charges against Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh and eight others in connection with the case, however, exempting Singh from prosecution on account of the constitutional immunity he enjoys as Governor. “Kalyan Singh, being the Governor of Rajasthan, is entitled to immunity under Article 361 of the Constitution as long as he remains Governor of Rajasthan. The Court of Sessions will frame charges and move against him as soon as he ceases to be Governor.”

The bench also accepted submissions by senior lawyer Kapil Sibal and advocate MR Shamshad, who represented one of the original petitioners in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri title suit case, Haji Mehboob, directing the sessions judge to conduct their trial on a day-to-day basis from the current stage and finishing it in two years. “There shall be no de novo trial. There shall be no transfer of the judge conducting the trial until the entire trial concludes. The case shall not be adjourned on any ground except when the Sessions Court finds it impossible to carry on the trial for that particular date. In such an event, on grant of adjournment to the next day or a closely proximate date, reasons for the same shall be recorded in writing,” the bench said.


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