Babri case: SC questions CBI over delay in filing appeal

The Supreme Court today questioned CBI for the delay in filing appeal against the Allahabad High Court order that conspiracy charge will not apply to BJP leader L K Advani and others in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

A bench headed by Justice H L Dattu directed that an affidavit be filed within two weeks by a senior law officer of the central government after noting that the delay of 167 days was caused because of a law officer.

In compliance with the apex court's earlier order, CBI today placed before the bench the case details in which it submitted that the delay was caused as the drafting of the appeal against the Allahabad High Court verdict was pending before Additional Solicitor General and Solicitor General for their approval and opinion.

"The delay was on the part of Solicitor General. So affidavit from the concerned person would facilitate us to understand the delay," the bench said.

"In your interest it is better if an affidavit is filed," the court said, granting two weeks time to CBI to get the affidavit filed by the senior law officer.

The bench, however, in its order did not mention the officer who would be filing the affidavit and said it should be filed by a senior law officer.

The apex court was hearing CBI's appeal challenging the verdicts of a special CBI court and the Allahabad High Court dropping conspiracy charge against Advani, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar and Murli Manohar Joshi.

The others against whom the charge was dropped included Satish Pradhan, C R Bansal, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Sadhvi Ritambhara, V H Dalmia, Mahant

Avaidhynath, R V Vedanti, Param Hans Ram Chandra Das, Jagdish Muni Maharaj, B L Sharma, Nritya Gopal Das, Dharam Das, Satish Nagar and Moreshwar Save.

CBI has challenged in the Supreme Court the May 21, 2010 order of the high court, which had upheld a special court's decision to drop the charge against the leaders.

The high court had at that time, however, allowed CBI to proceed with other charges against Advani and others in a Rae Bareily court, under which the case falls.

The May 2010 order of the high court had said there was no merit in CBI's revision petition against the May 4, 2001 order of the special court which had directed dropping of criminal conspiracy charge against them.

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.

CBI had chargesheeted Advani and 20 others under sections 153A (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)of IPC.

It had subsequently invoked charges under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC 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.

While upholding the special court's order, the high court had said CBI at no point of time, either during the trial at Rae Bareily or in its revision petition, ever stated that there was offence of criminal conspiracy against the leaders