Babri demolition: CBI tells Supreme Court Advani, 12 others part of larger conspiracy

There are two sets of cases - one against BJP veteran leader LK Advani and others, who were on the dais at Ram Katha Kunj in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992 when the Babri mosque was demolished and the other against lakhs of ‘karsevaks’ who near the disputed structure.

Senior BJP leader LK Advani and 12 others were part of a larger conspiracy to demolish the disputed Babri Masjid, the Central Bureau of Investigation told the Supreme Court on Thursday, arguing for charges to be revived against the politicians.

This file photo shows people shouting and waving banners as they stand on the top of a stone wall and celebrate the destruction of the 16th Century Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. (AFP File Photo)

India’s premier probe agency told the top court that Advani and others hadn’t faced conspiracy charges based on technical reasons. The CBI wants the trial to be held in a Lucknow court.

Hundreds of Hindu zealots scaled the centuries-old Babri Masjid in 1992 and knocked it down with axes, hammers and other tools, triggering a cycle of communal violence that claimed more than 3,000 lives.

The controversial demolition was the culmination of a festering dispute between Muslims and many Hindus, who believe the Mughal emperor Babur razed a temple at the site believed to be the birthplace of Hindu god Ram.

Earlier this month, the SC had hinted that it might revive criminal conspiracy charges against BJP and other Hindu right-wing leaders in the demolition case that was dropped by a special trial court in Lucknow on technical grounds. Other than Advani, the accused include senior BJP leaders Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh, and a number of Vishwa Hindu Parishad members.