- LK Advani, MM Joshi & Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case: SC
- Daily hearings to take place in the CBI Court in Lucknow to ensure that verdict is delivered in two years
- Ruling came on an appeal filed by the CBI against Allahabad HC’s order that disagreed on charging the BJP leaders with criminal conspiracy
- Kalyan Singh can only be tried after he steps down as Governor of Rajasthan
- Uma Bharti will not step down from her post as Union Minister
- AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi called the demolition worse than Gandhi’s assassination
- Lalu Prasad Yadav called the verdict PM Modi’s conspiracy to remove LK Advani from the race to become the next president
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court announced that senior BJP leaders LK Advani, MM Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Kalyan Singh will not be charged right now as he is the Governor of Rajasthan but will face charges when his tenure ends.
The case will be held in Lucknow from 19 May and will have to be finished in two-years to avoid further delay to the 25-year-old case. No judges sitting on the case will be transferred and neither will any adjournments be entertained. The case will go on a day-to-day basis.
Uma Bharti will not be resigning from her Union Minister post as she clarified and it was also reaffirmed by Arun Jaitley.
"Worse than Mahatma Gandhi's Assassination"
Asaduddin Owaisi, president of AIMIM, said the Babri Masjid demolition case was more serious an offence than the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Uma Bharti Postpones Trip to Ayodhya
Uma Bharti, who had displayed confidence after the Supreme Court verdict that said she will undergo a trial for conspiracy charges said she would leave for Ayodhya tonight, has cancelled her trip for now.
Key Highlights of Supreme Court Order
- “The proceedings in the Court of the Special Judicial Magistrate at Rae Bareilly will stand transferred to the Court of Additional Sessions Judge (Ayodhya Matters) at Lucknow.”
- “Mr Kalyan Singh, being the Governor of Rajasthan, is entitled to immunity under Article 361 of the Constitution as long as he remains Governor. The Court of Sessions will frame charges and move against him as soon as he ceases to be Governor.”
- “The Court of Sessions will, after transfer of the proceedings from Rae Bareilly to Lucknow and framing of additional charges, within four weeks, take up all the matters on a day-to-day basis... until conclusion of the trial… There shall be no transfer of the judge conducting the trial until the entire trial concludes.”
- “The CBI shall ensure that on every date fixed for evidence, some prosecution witnesses must remain present, so that for want of witnesses the matter not be adjourned.”
- “The Sessions Court will complete the trial and deliver the judgement within a period of 2 years from the date of receipt of this judgement.”