POLITICS: Babri Masjid demolition case; SC orders CBI court to deliver a verdict by 31st August.

On Friday, the Supreme Court extended the deadline to deliver the verdict on Babri Masjid demolition case for the special CBI court till 31st August in Lucknow. The Apex Court urged the trial court judge to use video conferencing technology in order to complete the proceedings. A bench consisting Justices R F Nariman and Surya Kant has stressed on the completion of the trial and heavily emphasized the trial court judge to see to it that the present deadline is "no longer breached". 

Veteran BJP leaders LK Advani, Kalyan Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, former Union Minister Uma Bharti and current MPs Brij Bhushan Singh and Sakshi Maharaj are some of the big names facing trial in the case. Two cases were filed after the demolition of Babri Masjid on 6th December 1992, one on the conspiracy of the demolition of Babri Masjid and another on instigating the crowd to demolish the structure. The first case is in a trial in Lucknow, and the other is in Rae Bareli Court.

Brij Bhushan Singh, Pawan Pandey, Lallu Singh, R N Srivastava, and Sakshi Maharaj are the prominent leaders of the 22 accused in Lucknow. Out of 22, one accused has died. R N Srivastava was District Magistrate of Faizabad at the time of demolition. 3 out of 8 accused have passed away in the case being held in Rae Bareli Court. The remaining five accused are veteran leader Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Ritambhara and Uma Bharti.

On 19th April 2017, The Apex Court had ordered the restoration of charges against thirteen accused, whom the High court had dropped from the case earlier. Out of the thirteen, seven have died including former MP and BJP leader Baikunth Lal Sharma. Criminal Conspiracy Charge (Sec 120B) was also added against the accused facing trial in Rae Bareli by the order of the Supreme Court. The trial court will work towards delivering a verdict by 31st August.