Special CBI Court to deliver verdict on Babari Masjid Demolition case on Sep 30

The verdict in the criminal case related to the conspiracy behind the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque in 1992 will be delivered by the Special CBI Court at Lucknow on September 30

The accused persons are asked to be present in court by Special Judge, Mr. Surendra Kumar Yadav on September 30 for the pronouncement of judgment

Prominent BJP leaders L K Advani, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharati, Murli Manohar Joshi etc., are the accused in the case.

The trial court was given many extension to complete the trial by SC, with the last extension given on August 19, 2020.

The conspiracy charges against the accused was restored by the Supreme Court Bench of Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman on On April 19, 2017, by allowing an appeal filed by the CBI against the discharge given by the Allahabad High Court to them.

Invoking its extraordinary constitutional powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the bench also transferred the pending separate trial in a Rae Bareilly Magistrate court and clubbed it with criminal proceedings in the Lucknow CBI Court.

The top court had further ordered day-to-day trial to be concluded in two years in the case.

On July 19, 2019, a bench headed by Justice R F Nariman had directed the Trial Court to complete the recording of evidence within six months and deliver judgment within nine months. The Court had also directed the UP Government to issue administrative orders to extend the tenure of the Special Judge of CBI Court, Lucknow till the delivery of judgment. The judge was otherwise due to retire on September 30, 2019.

Later, on May 8, 2020, a Supreme Court Bench comprising of Justices Nariman and Surya Kant had extended the deadline for Special CBI Court, Lucknow to deliver its judgment in the case by August 31, 2020 after considering a request for extension made by the Special Judge.

On July 24 this year, the Trial Court recorded the statement of Advani via video conferencing.

Pleading innocence, the 92-year old former Deputy Prime Minister denied his involvement in the alleged conspiracy along with 'Kar sevaks' to demolish the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. He pleaded he was completely innocent and was unnecessarily dragged in the case owing to political reasons.

(With inputs from Live Law)