Babri Masjid demolition case: How long to complete trial, SC asks Lucknow sessions judge

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a report from a sessions judge in a Lucknow court seeking a detailed time frame on how long will it take to complete the trial in Babri Masjid demolition case.

A bench of Justices R F Nariman and Indu Malhotra asked the trial judge to send the response in a sealed cover. 

The top court also sought Uttar Pradesh government's response on a plea of trial court judge S K Yadav, whose promotion was stayed by the Allahabad High Court on the ground that the top court had directed him to complete the trial, reported news agency PTI. 

Last year, the SC had framed charges against 14 people, including BJP veterans L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti in the politically sensitive 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case. 

Later in April 2017, the SC had said Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti would be prosecuted for serious offence of criminal conspiracy in the Ayodhya case and ordered day-to-day trial to be concluded in two years, ie April 19, 2019.

The SC dubbed the demolition of the medieval era monument a "crime" which shook the "secular fabric of the Constitution" and allowed CBI's plea on the restoration of criminal conspiracy charge against the VVIP accused.

"There shall be no de novo (fresh) trial. There shall be no transfer of the Judge conducting the trial until the entire trial concludes. The case shall not be adjourned on any ground except when the sessions court finds it impossible to carry on the trial for that particular date," the apex court had said.

There were two sets of cases relating to the demolition of the disputed structure on December 6, 1992. The first involved unnamed 'karsevaks', the trial of which is taking place in a Lucknow court, while the second set of cases relate to the leaders in a Rae Bareli court. 

With PTI inputs