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Advani discharged; Joshi, others to face charges in Babri Masjid case

By J.P. Shukla

RAE BARELI Sept. 19. The Special CBI court hearing the Babri Masjid demolition conspiracy case today discharged the Deputy Prime Minister, Lal Krishna Advani, but found grounds to proceed against the seven other accused in the case, including the Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, the former Union Minister, Uma Bharti, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, Ashok Singhal. The special CBI magistrate, V.K. Singh, in his order passed in a packed court fixed October 10 for the framing of charges against the seven accused and directed them to personally appear before him on the next date of hearing.

The magistrate said that Mr. Advani had been discharged on all the counts and his personal bond revoked. The sureties in his bail bond had simultaneously been freed from their responsibilities.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had pleaded that the court charge the VHP leaders Sadhvi Ritambhara, Giriraj Kishore, Vishnu Hari Dalmia, and the present Uttar Pradesh BJP chief, Vinay Katiyar, besides Mr. Advani, Mr. Joshi, Ms. Bharti and Mr. Singhal under Sections 147 (rioting), 149 (committing a crime), 153A and 153 B (spreading communal frenzy) and 505 (creating ill-will) of the Indian Penal Code. The accused were represented by advocates Mridul Rakesh and Mahipal Ahluwalia while R.K. Saini represented the CBI in the court.

The present case, No 198 of 92 filed after the demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, was earlier being heard by the Special CBI court in Lucknow along with the main case, No 197 of 92, but almost became defunct after a judgment of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court held that the Uttar Pradesh Government notification constituting the Lucknow court to hear it was faulty on technical grounds. The High Court, however, held that the State Government could issue a fresh notification correcting the fault for the trial of the accused.

The State Government did not issue a fresh notification but the then Chief Minister, Mayawati, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on May 30, 2002 holding that the case could be heard by the Rae Bareli court and consequently the case was revived.

In the Lucknow special court, the CBI had filed a composite chargesheet against Mr. Advani and the other accused attracting Sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 295 and 295 A (injuring and defiling place of worship and indulging in an act intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class), besides other sections of the IPC. When the case was revived in the Rae Bareli court charges under these three Sections were dropped from the supplementary chargesheet filed by the CBI on May 30, 2003. Mr. Advani's discharge is likely to further complicate the issue with other accused in the case preparing to challenge today's order in a higher court.

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