Babri Masjid demolition case: Supreme Court issues notice to LK Advani, Joshi, 18 others

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani and 19 others over a petition filed by Haji Mehboob in the Babri masjid case.

Top BJP leaders including Uma Bharti, Murli Manohar Joshi and Kalyan Singh are amongst those notified by the apex court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been granted four weeks time to respond to the plea in the case.

On December 6, 1992, a mob of Hindu religious volunteers demolished the Babri mosque allegedly been built by the Mughal ruler Babar in the sixteenth century at a place where Lord Ram temple existed. Hindus regard Ayodhya as the birth place of Lord Rama.

There are two sets of cases — one against Advani and others who were on the dais at Ram Katha Kunj in Ayodhya in December 1992 when the Babri Masjid was demolished, while the other case was against lakhs of unknown ‘karsevaks’ who were in and around the disputed structure.

The CBI had charge-sheeted Advani and 20 others under sections 153A IPC (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (false statements, rumours etc circulated with the intent to cause mutiny or disturb public peace).

It had subsequently invoked charges under Section 120 B (Criminal Conspiracy) which was quashed by the Special Court whose decision was upheld by the high court.

Bal Thackeray’s name was removed from the list of accused persons after his death recently.