New delhi sources stated that supreme court on friday extended the deadline for a special cbi court to wind up the trial and deliver the verdict in the 1992 babri masjid demolition case against bjp senior leaders L K Advani, murli manohar joshi, uma bharti and others by august 31. The apex court however directed that the latest deadline should be stretched. The supreme court, in July last year, gave a landmark direction to the cbi trial court to complete the trial and deliver the judgement in flat nine months, i.e by the end of April.
The latest extension of the trial comes after the cbi court judge wrote to the Apex court, requesting more time to conclude the trial. The judge cited the ongoing nationwide lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic as the grounds for his request for extension of the deadline for completing the trial.While allowing the extension, the supreme court categorically stated that the august deadline should not be breached and asked the cbi trial court to use video-conferencing facility to go ahead with uninterrupted trial in the case.
Three of the accused in the case, namely Giriraj Kishore, vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader ashok Singhal and Vishnu hari Dalmi, have passed away during the process of the trial.The Apex court had earlier set a two-year deadline to complete the trial by april 2017. Later, this deadline was extended by nine more months and the tenure of the special cbi court judge SK Yadav was also extended by the supreme court until the end of the trial of the case. The judge was supposed to retire in september 2019. The babri masjid, constructed by the Mughals in the 16th century, was demolished by 'Kar sevaks' in 1992 at the height of a nationwide movement led by bjp senior leader LK Advani and others rooting for the construction of the temple at the site of the mosque. The supreme court had also announced that a suitable five-acre land should be given to the Muslim groups to facilitate the construction of a mosque.
