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Supreme Court sets Sept 30 deadline to complete Babri trial
The BJP leaders are on trial for the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. They have been charged for various offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including promoting enmity between religious groups.
The Supreme Court has set a new deadline of September 30 for completing trial and pronouncing the verdict in the criminal case against BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992.
The apex court had in May asked the special judge, Surendra Kumar Yadav, to complete the trial and deliver its judgment by August 31. A three-judge bench headed by justice Rohinton Nariman extended the deadline by one more month after taking into account a report by Yadav stating that the trial was at its fag end.
“Having read the report of Mr. Surendra Kumar Yadav, learned Special Judge, and considering that the proceedings are at the fag end, we grant one month’s time, i.e., till September 30, 2020, to complete the proceedings including delivery of judgment,” the bench which also comprised justices Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee said in its order passed on August 19.
This would be the fourth instance of the top court setting a deadline for completion of trial in the case.
The BJP leaders are on trial for the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. They have been charged for various offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including promoting enmity between religious groups (section 153A), making statements affecting national integration (section 153B) or which are likely to cause public mischief (section 505).
In April 2017, the Supreme Court ordered that an additional charge of criminal conspiracy under section 120B of the IPC should be framed against the accused BJP leaders. The apex court had also ordered the special court to complete the trial within two years.
Subsequently, the court had taken up the matter in July 2019 and extended the deadline for completion of trial and delivering the verdict by nine months.
That deadline expired on April 19 and special judge Yadav wrote to the apex court on May 6 this year seeking a further extension. The court then took up the matter on May 8 and set a deadline of August 31 while also asking Yadav to make use of video-conferencing facilities to ensure that recording of evidence is complete and there is no inordinate delay in concluding the trial.
Meanwhile, the top court on November 9 last year decided the title suit to the disputed site at Ayodhya in favour of Hindu parties while also acknowledging that the demolition of the Babri Masjid which stood at the site was a “calculated act”.
“During the pendency of the suits, the entire structure of the mosque was brought down in a calculated act of destroying a place of public worship. The Muslims have been wrongly deprived of a mosque which had been constructed well over 450 years ago,” the November 9 judgment said.
